Choices
by pancakes are relevant
Summary: Charlie Weasley, avid workaholic, never once felt like he was choosing his work over his family, until the day he runs into an old friend just as obsessed with his own work as he, and finally discovers what it feels like to be ignored.
1. 2 months

**Title:** Choices  
**Pairing:** Charlie Weasley/Oliver Wood  
**Word Count:** 1,090  
**Warning:** Slash  
**Summary:** Charlie Weasley, avid workaholic, never once felt like he was choosing his work over his family, until the day he runs into an old friend just as obsessed with his own work as he, and finally discovers what it feels like to be ignored.

* * *

**_Choices_**

_Chapter 1: __Two Months_**  
**

Charlie Weasley knew he'd made a huge mistake having a personal discussion with his boss. At the time it had seemed so innocent, he never expected his boss to go completely insane, but Charlie was now realizing his boss was one of those people who surprised you at the worst moments.

He'd walked into Mr. Walker's office with apprehension on his face. He needed vacation time, but he hated asking for it. Mr. Walker was a shorter, thin man with a small brown mustache and uncharacteristically beefy, calloused hands. However, beefy hands weren't at all unusual at a dragon reserve, which was where Charlie worked, since nearly everyone there spent all of their time running after dragons.

When he'd stepped into the room Mr. Walker had been standing in the farthest right-hand corner looking through his bookshelf for something or another. Charlie made his presence known by clearing his throat, which caused Mr. Walker to start, smack his head on top of the bookshelf, and knock over a sneakoscope which had been lying on top of it. Charlie shot forward and caught it before it fell and then handed it back to Mr. Walker, who smiled appreciatively.

"Reflexes of a seeker you've got there." he murmured patting Charlie on the back. He moved behind his desk and placed a large black book on it. He then gestured for Charlie to sit down and finally sat himself. "It's probably why you're the best dragon keeper here."

Charlie blushed and thanked him.

"Soo…" He began opening the black book. On closer inspection Charlie realized it was his datebook. "You're here about vacation time huh?" Mr. Walker asked.

"Um yes," Charlie began. "I swear I wouldn't ask in any other circumstance, but my brother's wife has just had a baby and they keep telling me I have to come and see her-"

"Well of course you have to go and see her." Mr. Walker said quickly. "This is your family we're talking about."

Charlie just shrugged.

Mr. Walker rifled through his datebook again and accio'd a large red pen off of the bookshelf. "So how much time will you need?" He asked.

Charlie began to move uncomfortably in his seat. "Well I would have asked for time later because no one in the family's allowed to see the baby for a few days anyway due to some complication with the baby's magic, but my family wants me home right away. So, I might need more time than usual."

Mr. Walker clicked his pen. "Name it."

"Um….ten days?" Charlie asked nervously.

The other man's eyes rose from the datebook to Charlie's face. He looked incredulous. "Ten days? That's it?"

"Erm yes." Charlie coughed.

Mr. Walker set his pen on the desk and sighed. "Charlie Weasley your family lives far away from you, I know for a fact you never floo call them, you're going to be an uncle for the first time, and all you're asking me for is a measly ten days?"

Charlie shrugged. "Well it's not like babies do much anyway. They just poop, eat and sleep."

"Be that as it may ten days is not enough time. How much vacation time have you allotted anyway?" He asked flipping to the back of his datebook.

Charlie moved forward. "That's really not necess-"

"Good God!" Mr. Walker's hand froze on Charlie's page. "Look at all this vacation time you've racked up! How on earth did you do this?"

"Well I-"

"You've never been on a vacation longer than a week." Mr. Walker answered for him. "And look at all the holidays you've worked."

Charlie blushed. "Well I've been busy."

"For the past three Christmases?" Mr. Walker leaned back in his chair, stunned. "This is shameful. It's practically worker's abuse." He put his hands together and sighed. "I'm giving you a month off."

"What? No!" Charlie yelled. "What about the dragons?"

"The dragons will be fine without you." Mr. Walker replied, already adding Charlie's future vacation time to the book. "This isn't like when you first joined the reserve and we were horribly understaffed. Now we have plenty of people to cover you." He began to write in Charlie's vacation time when he noticed something on the page. "Hold on, it's November right?" He asked.

Charlie nodded miserably.

"Well since it'll be the holidays by the time you get back I might as well give you two months."

Charlie was sure he was going to have an aneurism. "Are you crazy?" He asked. "We lose half our staff during the holidays! WHAT ABOUT THE DRAGONS?"

Mr. Walker snorted. "The dragons are hibernating anyway. I highly doubt you need to be around to watch them sleep."

Charlie opened his mouth to argue more but Mr. Walker shushed him. "My mind is made up. Even with these two months off you still have tons of vacation time left, and there's no better time for you to get some rest than now. Go be with your family, relax a little, and above all try to get laid. I'm sure you haven't in who knows how long."

Charlie's face turned the same color as his hair.

Mr. Walker closed his datebook and stood up. "Now get out of my office, go pack your bags and I'll see you in two months."

He stuck out his hand and Charlie shook it slowly, before heading unhappily out the door. Two months away from dragons. Two months with his insane family. He didn't know how he was going to deal with that.


	2. George's Speech

A/N: I recently found the inspiration to write both the ending to this story and the ending to its sequel while listening to Alicia Key's "Unthinkable". Yes there will be a sequel. As a result, I hope to update more frequently since I am very excited about finally posting the final chapter.

* * *

**_Choices_**

_Chapter 2: George's Speech_

Charlie hadn't told his family he was coming to stay for two months. Instead he planned to surprise them by showing up on the doorstep. While portkeying over it had seemed like such a brilliant idea, but now he was still standing on the doorstep after having knocked about five times with a floating bag and a very distressed owl. It snapped its beak threateningly at him through the cage. He smirked. It wasn't for naught he'd named it Firecracker. From inside he could hear his sister screaming furiously, and a few of his brothers laughing at her. It sounded like George and perhaps, Bill. He knocked again.

"I'm going to kill you George!"

He sighed and leaned against the door, wishing he had a key. He reached into his bag and dug around in it until his found his wand, willow and dragon heartstring. He pointed the wand at the lock and said "Alohamora". He tried the knob and groaned. Even though the war was over there was no way his parents were going to lock their door with any simple spell. He tried another spell, then another, then another. His voice gradually rose as he became more and more frustrated.

The screams subsided and a stern voice called out from inside the Burrow. "Who are you?"

Charlie sighed in relief. "It's me Bill." He responded.

"CHARLIE!" Ginny shrieked. He heard her running toward the door before her footfalls suddenly stopped. Bill was scolding her, telling her she shouldn't let people in without asking a security question.

"How do I know you're really Charlie?" Bill asked.

"How do I know you're really Bill?" Charlie countered.

George snorted from behind the door.

"That night about seven years ago, right before you left for Romania, you told me something about yourself no one else knew." Charlie could practically hear the smirk in Bill's voice as he spoke. "Is it still true?"

Charlie groaned and leaned against the doorframe. He knew exactly what Bill was talking about, and he hated that Bill always brought up that night every time they encountered one another. "Just let me in Bill, I'm too old for this shit."

"Answer the question." Bill responded.

Charlie growled at him before giving in. He leaned closer to the door and whispered harshly. "Yes it's still true alright!"

The door swung open, and Charlie was met with the sight of his only older brother shaking with mirth. He looked younger than the last time Charlie had seen him. Perhaps Charlie was getting used to the scars that marred his brother's face. Instead of mentioning this he roughly shoved his older brother out of the way. "You're such a child." He grumbled.

Bill didn't answer, as he was still shaking with laughter. However Ginny ran up to Charlie and threw her arms around him. "Hey squirt." He said noticing her hair was soaking wet and smelled a bit like detergent.

Ginny rolled her eyes and let him go. "I didn't know you were coming home."

Charlie shrugged. "I wanted to surprise you." As he spoke George stepped forward and hugged him as well. "What happened to your hair?" He asked.

Ginny's smile was immediately replaced by a furious look. She whirled on George and glared at him. "This idiot decided to test out his latest product on me!" She yelled.

George laughed loudly. "You should have seen it Charlie!" He yelled. "It was green just before you showed up."

Ginny shrieked again and chased him out of the room.

Charlie shook his head as they left. "Can't believe he's twenty four, he still acts like he's twelve."

"Definitely."

Charlie turned to glare at his older brother, having forgotten he was in the room. Bill laughed and held up his hands, but Charlie ignored him and stalked out of the room. He heard Bill calling after him as he left. "Aw come on Charlie, you know it's funny!"

He ignored his brother and entered the living room, surveying the area. It had changed a lot since he'd last been home, no doubt due to his father's promotion after the war. Even though the house looked no different from the outside, the living room had expanded greatly, the fireplace had been re-modeled, and there were several new doors which undoubtedly led to new, much needed rooms. Charlie smiled as he surveyed the house. He was glad that for once he wouldn't have to slip galleons into his mother's apron the next time she hugged him. He set his bag and Firecracker on the floor and opened the cage. Immediately Firecracker flew at him and bit him hard on his left index finger. He let out a yelp and tugged it out of the owl's grip. "I'm bloody sorry!" He yelled. "I know you don't like portkeying but that's the way we travel okay?"

The owl clicked its beak at him but appeared to sober up. He smiled and pulled an owl treat out of his cloak, and handed it to the bird. Firecracker reluctantly took the treat and then flew off in search of Percy's owl, Hermes.

Charlie relaxed once the owl was out of sight, picked up his bag, and headed toward the kitchen. He entered it to find his mother washing dishes, her back to him. He snuck up behind her and whispered, "Hello Mum."

Molly started and turned. Before Charlie knew what was happening he found himself engulfed in a huge hug. He winced. Of all the Weasley children he'd always been the least fond of displays of affection.

"Charlie dearest! I didn't know you were coming home! I wish you had let me know but- Oh! This is such a surprise!"

He laughed and gently pulled away. "Nice to see you too Mum." Before he could say anything further Ginny rushed in pulling Harry Potter by the arm.

"Charlie you remember Harry right?"

"Yeah of course." Charlie said. He stuck out a hand which Harry took. Once Harry let go he grasped Ginny's palm tightly.

Charlie's left eyebrow rose. "You guys are back together?" He asked.

Ginny rolled her eyes and laughed. "Of course, we've been back together for awhile! How long are you staying?" She asked, causing his Mum's ears to perk up.

"Um two months." Charlie began avoiding everyone's eyes.

"Two months? Seriously?" Molly asked as Ginny squealed. "How'd you manage that? Your boss only gave you two weeks when Fr-, I mean, after the war."

Charlie shrugged. In actuality his boss had given just about everyone at the reserve as much time as they needed after the war, but Charlie knew that war or no war a dragon reserve couldn't last all that long without any tamers. However to avoid complications he'd just told his family that his boss needed him back in Romania. "I guess he just had Christmas spirit."

Molly smiled and hugged him warmly. "Well I'm just glad you're back."

"Me too!" Ginny piped up, grabbing his arm with her free hand. "Come on we have to find Percy and Dad!"

She began to tug along both Charlie and Harry, who exchanged looks behind her back. Charlie was rapidly developing a headache, and quickly remembering why he never visited.

A few hours later Charlie sat at the dinner table in his house feeling like he'd missed something. His family circle had somehow doubled in size. Not only was Harry staying for dinner, but Ron's bushy-haired girlfriend was sitting next to him. Percy, too, was sitting next to a slightly bookish looking woman with mousy brown hair. Furthermore a beautiful black woman was sitting next to George, smiling and laughing at his mother who was across from her and next to his father. Most surprising of all, Andromeda was sitting at the table with her grandson, Teddy. Teddy, who sat on Harry's other side seemed quite attached to Harry, as he kept tugging on his arm every few seconds or so. Charlie couldn't help but stare.

Molly turned to her eldest son. "How's Fleur doing?" She asked.

Bill sighed. "She's tired, and she wants to go home, but Mungo's won't release her until Saturday. I was hoping everyone would come visit her and the baby after dinner. She's been a bit lonely."

Everyone readily agreed to go.

Bill then promptly changed the subject. "So, Charlie, how're the dragons doing?" He spoon fed peas to his two year old daughter, Victoire, as he spoke.

Charlie started and turned toward his older brother. "They're doing well, but I'm worried because I won't be around to prepare them for hibernation."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Dragons have been hibernating on their own for centuries, I'm sure they'll be fine." He said carelessly.

Charlie shrugged and tried to concentrate on his meal, but he was thwarted by his mother clearing her throat. "So Charlie, any news from Romania?"

Charlie cleared his throat uncomfortably, knowing exactly where she was going. "No, no news." He stated, noting that several of his relatives were listening in on their conversation.

Molly's eyebrow quirked. "Have you made any new friends?" She tactfully asked.

Charlie shook his head and tried to stuff green beans in his mouth to avoid the awkwardness of the conversation.

"None?" She pressed. "No one you're seeing."

Charlie swallowed and sighed, waiting for the blow up. "No Mum, no one."

"Charlie Weasley! You never bring anyone home! I swear it's like you don't even try! You're 30 years old and you're practically a monk! Do you want me to die without any grandchildren?"

"Hey!" Bill yelled, reminding his mom of her daughter-in-law, who had spent the better part of the last few days recovering from pushing a five pound baby out of her and Victoire, in the high chair next to him.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Oh you know what I mean!"

"Molly please-" Arthur began, but he too was ignored.

"Why don't you ever open up to me? I could set you up with some beautiful daughters of friends if you'd just tell me what you're looking for!" She shrieked, beginning to sound hysterical.

Charlie had had enough. "That's just it! I don't know what I'm looking for, and honestly I don't care!" He stated firmly. "I have other priorities and at this point dating is not at the top of my list."

Charlie ate the rest of his dinner in a moody silence. Once his dinner was finished Charlie felt restless. He couldn't help but wonder what was going on at the reserve. It felt weird not to do his nightly check-ups on the dragons and he couldn't help but fear the worst. When he couldn't take it anymore he promptly excused himself from the table and went into the living room to write a letter.

_Marty,_

_Don't forget the Welsh green in the fourth clearing came down with some sort of virus and needs to take Repticid every day around noon. Don't worry, the pills are fireproof. Oh and Sheila came down with Dragonpox so she won't be coming into work for the next week or so. I already scheduled people to cover her rounds, but it would be great if you could remind them that they are taking on extra shifts._

He sucked on his quill, feeling like he was forgetting something.

"Charlie?"

Charlie looked up to find Bill staring at him. "We're about to head over to Mungo's, you coming?"

"Um…" Charlie looked back at the letter. He still had the strange itchy feeling that he was forgetting something important. "You guys go ahead, I'll meet you there once I finish this letter."

Bill suddenly looked worried. "Are you sure? Visiting hours end in just over an hour."

Charlie waved his hand distractedly. "I'll be done in plenty of time, go on."

Bill sighed and left, ushering the family out of the house.

Immediately after Bill left Charlie began to pace. He felt like he was forgetting something, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was. He turned to face the wall furthest from the kitchen and let out a growl. It was maddening! It was right at the edge of his brain yet he couldn't grasp it. He paced back and forth, back and forth until it suddenly came to him in a flash of brilliance. He immediately pulled out his pen again.

_Also, I figured out why the Chinese Fireball has been so irritable lately. She's in the very early stages of pregnancy. I don't think even she knows it yet so I suggest you be extremely cautious. She's especially temperamental around feeding time. Thanks!_

_-Charlie_

Charlie smiled, folded the letter, and then went in search of Firecracker. Once he'd sent her off he glanced at his watch and nearly fell over in shock. It was 8:37, meaning his family had left nearly forty minutes ago. He couldn't believe it had taken him that long to send a letter. Furthermore it meant visiting hours ended in just over twenty minutes. Wasting no more time, Charlie went to search for his coat.

* * *

At 8:45 Charlie found himself standing in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron trying not to freak out. Upon preparing to apparate, Charlie had suddenly discovered that he had no idea where St. Mungo's was. As one of the few Weasley children who wasn't completely accident prone he hadn't been to Mungo's since he was very young, and the memories from then were not clear enough for him to safely apparate. He had decided his best course of action was to ask Tom for directions, but now he was at the Leaky Cauldron and Tom was nowhere in sight. He looked around the Leaky for a character who didn't look shady before his eyes landed on an elderly witch in bright green robes. As he approached her he realized she was even older than he had assumed. He could barely see her eyes behind large spectacles and crow's feet. Not to be deterred he cleared his throat and put on his most winning smile.

"Excuse me mam, my name is Charlie Weasley and-"

"Oh a Weasley!" She exclaimed in a croaky voice. "I could tell by your red hair. Is your father still-"

"I'm really sorry to be rude but I am in a bit of a hurry and-"

"Oh you young men always in a hurry. I was just telling my grandson Chester that he should really…"

* * *

Charlie tore into St. Mungo's and raced toward the receptionist. "Fa-fa-Fleur Weasley" He spluttered at the stunned woman.

She cast a quick locator spell and then said, "Room 512. But-"

However Charlie was long gone before he could hear what she was about to say. He raced to the lift, stood impatiently in front of it for a minute, then proceeded to run up five flights of stairs. He came out the stairway gasping, skidded around the corner and then ran toward room 512. The door was closed. He reached for the handle.

"Visiting hours are over Charlie."

Charlie whirled around and found himself face-to-face with his brother, George. The expression on George's face was unreadable, which was unusual for someone who always had an easygoing attitude and either a friendly or devious look on his face.

"Crap." Charlie said sliding down the wall and closing his eyes.

"Yeah crap." George repeated crossing his arms.

Charlie's eyes suddenly flew open. "Everyone-?"

"Went home." George answered. "I volunteered to stay here and wait for you since I had a feeling you'd do something like this."

Charlie eyed his brother. There was something peculiar about George's expression and his tone was almost…

George turned around and looked out of the window, his back toward Charlie. "Fleur fell asleep about twenty minutes after we arrived, and everyone else left maybe three minutes ago after they got tired of waiting on you."

At that point Charlie could clearly hear it in his brother's voice. "Are you… mad at me?" He asked.

George turned around suddenly, eyes blazing. "What the fuck do you think?" He whispered venomously.

Charlie stared at his brother. George could only be described as a ball of pent up rage. His fists were shaking, the tendons in his neck were taut and his eyes could only be described as murderous. "Look," he began. "I'm sorry I was late, I came here as fast as I could but-"

"You should have come with us in the first place!"

Charlie was so stunned by the fact that George was shouting that any argument about him being old enough to make his own decisions fell straight out of his head. He found himself standing there staring at George in amazement as he furiously berated him.

"I don't know why I'm bloody surprised you didn't bother to show up it's not like you've ever put your family first in anything! But I stupidly thought that just this once you'd give a damn about your only older brother's child, especially considering the fact that half the doctors here didn't think Fleur would survive the labor!"

"I-I didn't know it was that serious I-"

"Of course you didn't know, you never know anything about any of us!"

At those words Charlie stood up, suddenly feeling self-righteous. "How could you possibly say that?" He asked.

George responded with a snort. "You're so deluded it's pathetic. You continuously put those bloody dragons before your family and you've done it yet again! Congratulations!"

"Just because I couldn't come on a bloody hospital visit."

George shook his head sadly. "It's not about that Charlie. It's about you not having a key to the house."

Charlie was taken aback, shocked that George had noticed.

"It's about you sitting across from your brother's fiancé all dinner and not knowing who the hell she is."

Charlie started. "What? You and-"

"No." George answered. "Percy." He took a calming breath before continuing. "Do you know Bill and Fleur's baby's name? Do you even know if it's a boy or a girl?"

Charlie looked away, suddenly feeling ashamed. The look George threw was one of pure disgust.

"Her name's Dominique." He said. "She's seven days old, five pounds, three ounces, and she's just as beautiful as her mother." His eyes pierced Charlie's as he spoke. "And you would know that if you ever bothered to write us a Goddamned letter!" He sighed and took a breath before speaking again. "You know, when Mum asks you 'What's new in your life' she isn't just talking about who you're dating. I swear it's like we know nothing about you and you don't seem to care about us at all."

Charlie reacted vehemently to that statement. "Of course I care about you-"

George snorted and Charlie was stunned to see tears brimming in the corners of his eyes. "Yeah, you cared enough to lie to our faces after Fred's funeral. I know the reserve didn't call you back."

Charlie was shocked. He felt guilt rapidly soaking into his skin, weighing him down. In an attempt to release it he lashed out with words even he didn't believe in. "I had to! They needed me!"

"WE needed you!" George shouted, hot tears leaking out of his eyes. "How do you think Mum felt when you left immediately after Fred's funeral. The one thing she needed right then was family!"

Charlie couldn't stand to look at his brother, he couldn't look into eyes filled with raw emotion. His own eyes suddenly felt rather itchy. When he finally spoke his voice was barely above a whisper. "Fine. I'm a terrible son and brother who doesn't give a damn about my family. You're clearly a better person than I am. Is that what you want to hear?"

George let out a low chuckle, sizing up his older brother. He furiously wiped his eyes on his sleeve before he spoke. "Oh no Charlie, you and I are exactly alike. The only difference is you had somewhere to run and I didn't." He stepped forward menacingly, making good use of the two inches he had on his brother. "And I'll be damned if I let you run away from this again."


	3. The Bar

A/N: I've had this chapter riding around in my notebook for about two weeks now but family issues have kept me from having the time to upload it. I'm so happy I can finally post this. I'd also like to thank everyone who left reviews and alerted this story.

* * *

_**Choices**_

_Chapter 3: The Bar_

Charlie had never felt more pathetic than at that moment, staring morosely at his reflection in the grimy countertop of a seedy bar. After leaving St. Mungo's he'd walked idly down the streets of Wizarding London until he'd found a place that fit his mood. The poorly lit, ramshackle bar had shown out against the brightly colored banners and lights that adorned the places around it.

"What'll it be?"

Charlie looked up. The bartender was watching him with disinterested eyes behind the counter. The man was bald with thick eyebrows, and a round gut. Charlie shrugged and the man rolled his eyes. "Look bud, I don't have all night." He stated.

Charlie sighed. "Fine, just get me a Flaming Welsh."

The barman's caterpillar eyebrows rose at his words. "I haven't had a bloke order that in years. Sure you can handle it?"

Charlie nodded and the bartender left. Charlie could understand why the bloke was surprised. The drink was dirt cheap, tasted like crap, and often scorched the throat on the way down, but dragon handlers drank it often. In a lot of ways it reminded them of dragons. In fact when a new handler came aboard, all the blokes initiated him in by ordering the drink and forcing the handler to chug it.

The bartender returned holding a bright green bottle and looking disgruntled.

"Couldn't even accio the bloody thing cause it was under so much stuff." He said, glaring at Charlie as he poured the bright green liquid into a pint.

Charlie took the pint and tipped back half the contents. He let out a small cough once the liquid went down.

The bartender looked impressed. "You a dragon handler or summat?" He asked. "Those the only blokes I've known to take a Flaming Welsh head on without having their piss burn for a week."

"Yeah." Charlie replied. "That's all I am apparently." He continued, taking another smaller drink from his pint.

The bartender sighed. "Look mate, I'm a pretty generous bloke, and I have a curse of being the stereotypical bartender who acts as a psychiatrist for every pathetic-looking bloke that walks through my doors, even the ones who order the cheapest thing here. No offense."

"None taken."

"But tonight I got a big group comin' in who are known for ordering pint after pint, and that's just good business. So I'mma leave you this bottle in hopes that this piss-burnin' drink will supplement my bartender's wisdom." With those words he turned and walked into the back room leaving Charlie wondering if he just got dumped by a bartender. Deciding to get successfully smashed before a group of loud, raucous, giddy drunks stumbled in Charlie raised the pint to his lips, but before he could even take a sip loud joyful shouts filled the bar. _Oh Merlin it sounded like a Quidditch team._ Charlie groaned and smacked his head against the counter top. Loud shouts of "Hey! Hey! Hey!" assaulted his ears. Through the din he could just barely hear a bloke saying, "Yeah hold on, I'll be right wit'chu."

Charlie didn't pay any attention to the owner of the voice until he felt someone sit in the stool next to him. "Hey Charlie."

Charlie froze. He knew that voice. "Olli?" He asked, straightening.

Oliver Wood gave him the same toothy grin he used to give him 13 years ago.

"I haven't seen you since Hogwarts!" Charlie yelled wrapping his arms around Oliver and clapping him on the back. "What have you been up to?"

Oliver smiled again when Charlie let go. "Ah you know, just playing for Puddlemore." He said.

"No fucking way." Charlie said staring at Oliver in surprise. The last time he'd seen Oliver the bloke had been a 13 year old keeper on the team, dreaming about playing professionally. It wasn't that Charlie hadn't believed he could do it, it was just that kids generally didn't stick with things at that age. But now Oliver sat in front of Charlie looking a lot different from the bright-eyed kid he'd been back then. The bloke had well-defined arm muscles, thick strong thighs, stubble across his chin and he gave off an air of maturity Charlie had never been able to achieve. Charlie stared at Oliver, so different from the boy he remembered him as, and an unfamiliar feeling ran through him.

"Yeah," Oliver said. "I'm just out with the blokes after our game against the Wasps."

Charlie turned to look at the group of loud, cheering men. "I'm guessing you won." He stated.

Oliver chuckled. "Yeah." He said. "What about you? Still working with dragons?"

Charlie nodded. "Of course." His facial features hardened as George's words ran through his head again. _You continuously put those bloody dragons before your family._

Oliver's brown eyes softened as he studied Charlie. "You look worse for the wear." He stated.

Charlie sighed, the conversation with George running through his mind. "Dunno." He mumbled. "Doesn't matter much, you should probably get back to your mates."

Oliver didn't even glance at his team. Nor did he speak. Instead he continued to sit there, piercing Charlie with his gaze.

Charlie was silent for several minutes. He wasn't the type of bloke to discuss personal matters with anyone, but Oliver seemed so genuine. He breathed in slowly, and then let it out. "I don't know, apparently I've been dropping the ball a lot where my family's concerned. They're right sick of me as it is. George yelled at me in the middle of Mungo's earlier today, which is why I'm here actually." He said gesturing around the bar. _WE needed you!_ He groaned placing his head in his hands. "He thinks it's because of Fred."

Oliver cocked his head. "Well, is it?" he asked.

"I dunno." Charlie replied, wondering why his voice was suddenly so thick. "I never thought so. I've always been attached to my job, that's just who I am. I love dragons." He cleared his throat. "The boss even forced me to take two months leave." He said.

Oliver chuckled.

"You ever had that issue Ollie?" Charlie asked. "I've never seen anyone more devoted to Quidditch than you."

Oliver scratched the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. "Well my family's different Charlie." He stated. "I come from a Quidditch playing family. My mum played for the Harpies, my dad was Puddlemore's coach, and my sister's team manager for the Tornadoes." He grimaced at that. "But in your family you all excel at different things, you all have different passions."

"And lead different lives." Charlie finished slumping down and gripping his drink.

"Oh don't do that." Ollie exclaimed grasping Charlie's shoulders and pulling him up. "Look, differences aren't a bad thing, your family just wants to know you."

"I talk about dragons all the-"

"Not your job, **you**!" Ollie said sternly. "Look, your boss gave you two months right? Use the time to get to know your family better. I mean, what else are you gonna do without dragons?" He asked. "I'll tell you from personal experience, if you don't find some way to occupy yourself, you'll go insane with worry."

Charlie looked away, knowing Oliver was right.

"Now get up." Oliver said, patting him on the back. He grabbed Charlie's pint.

"Why?" Charlie asked.

"You're going to meet my team and get shit-faced." He stated, tipping Charlie's pint into his mouth. He came back up immediately coughing and spluttering, his entire face turning red.

Charlie grabbed the pint before Oliver could drop it while Ollie's team fell over laughing at the sight of him.

When he could breathe Oliver asked. "What the fuck is that? Dragon piss?"

"Pretty much." Charlie replied.

Oliver guided Charlie to the table where his team sat, still red-faced and coughing occasionally. "Oy! Mates!" He shouted when he got his voice back. "This is my mate from Hogwarts, Charlie!"

Slurred choruses of "Charlie!" and "Hey Charlie" met his ears. He sat down in between Oliver and a red-faced bloke.

Oliver handed him a pint muttering, "Something other than dragon piss."

Charlie smiled and relaxed, listening to the drunken ramblings of professional Quidditch players. One of the chasers, a slight man with a red mustache who seemed to be holding his liquor the best explained to Charlie that today's win meant they were in the finals, which meant they would be playing several games and training harder than ever until December, when the winning Quidditch team was given the title of best in the league.

An hour later Charlie had finished off the pint Oliver gave him and was feeling somewhat sleepy and especially tipsy. He stared blearily at Malcolm, one of the beaters, a Scottish man with a thick accent. "So she bends over right? Tits like this!" He cupped his arms in front of his chest to emphasize.

Chaqrlie yawned loudly and found himself looking at Oliver, who was smiling wryly. He couldn't get over how different Oliver looked, or how proud he was of him for fulfilling his dream. He was broken out of his reverie by the laughter of the Quidditch players. Another one of the chasers was speaking. "And then he says, 'your vagina's in the sink!'"

Raucous laughter flooded Charlie's ears effectively waking him up. He glanced at his watch. It was almost two. He tapped it with his wand and the face changed to a miniature version of the clock in his house. All his family members were at home. He gave Oliver a meaningful look and stood up, stating that he was leaving. The blokes all made noises of protest, and Charlie found himself promising to come to their next game.

Oliver also got up and said he'd walk him outside.

Once they were outside the pub Charlie looked around. The cool night air hadn't done anything to clear his hazy mind, and at the moment the street appeared to be swaying slightly.

Oliver closed the door and the sounds from the pub immediately dissolved into silence. Charlie stared at it.

"Silencing charm." Oliver explained. "So they don't disturb the neighbors."

Charlie nodded in understanding, believing he'd probably have known that is he wasn't so drunk. All the reasons he'd wanted to go home were quickly yielding to his desire to stay and continue to talking to Oliver.

Oliver sighed. "Sorry about the blokes, they're a little crass."

Charlie smiled. "They're brilliant, really."

The two stood in a comfortable silence for a minute.

"Yeah I know," Oliver finally said, breaking the silence. "but Ewan can be a bit much when you first meet him."

Charlie was way too drunk to remember who that was. Instead he just said, "Hm." It must have been his drunken haze that was causing his eyes to follow Oliver's lips as he spoke.

"I noticed you didn't laugh at his joke." Oliver said cautiously, not quite meeting his eyes.

Charlie strained his brain, trying to remember it. "I didn't get it." He said bluntly.

Oliver's face split into a wide grin. "I don't get it either." He took a step forward, his body an inch from Charlie's. He moved his head forward. "I never got it." He whispered.

Charlie shivered in anticipation, the drunk part of him still not knowing what Oliver was going to do until his lips were planted firmly on his. He gasped. A fire seemed to spread from his lips to the back of his jaw, just below his ears. It coursed rapidly through the rest of his body.

Oliver pressed forward thrusting his tongue into Charlie's awaiting mouth. Charlie pushed harder. Oliver tasted really really good. The fire was building inside his core, leaving his fingers and toes itching to touch Oliver's skin. If there was one thing his drunken brain understood, it was that he didn't want it to end.

Then, just like that Oliver pulled away. He stared at Charlie so intensely Charlie felt like his knees might give out. They both stood there, trying to catch their breath.

Finally, Charlie spoke the first words that came to mind. "I'm drunk."

Oliver chuckled and pressed his lips to Charlie's forehead. "I know." He whispered. He wrapped his arms around Charlie and apparated them to the front porch of the Burrow.

Charlie looked up at Oliver through bleary eyes. "Don't leave me." He whispered.

Ollie smiled at him. "You'll see me soon." He promised. "I don't trust you to remember my address so…" He conjured a piece of parchment and a quill, and then wrote his address down. He then folded the paper into a tiny square, leaned in, and placed the paper in Charlie's back pocket, soundly kissing him at the same time. "Say 'hi' to your family for me." He whispered. He pulled away, turned on his heel, and apparated away.

Charlie leaned against the door of the Burrow and smiled at the stars. At that moment he felt like he could conquer the world.


	4. Hungover and Hapless

A/N: I am so sorry for the delay. I've been spending the majority of my summer trying to get an internship. I had actually meant to make chapter 4 and 5 the same chapter but decided to split them up, so I'm about halfway through the next chapter, hopefully that will make up for the shortness of this one.

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_**Choices**_

_Chapter 4: Hung-Over and Hapless_

Charlie slowly opened his eyes and was met with nothing but a blur of reddish orange. He shut his eyes again and re-opened them so that the moving colors solidified into the Weasley's living room ceiling. He licked his lips, and the action let him know just how parched his throat was. He stared at the ceiling for several minutes, before he was nearly overwhelmed by the urge to cough. Swallowing that urge he sat up and immediately felt pressure on his temples. He moved to press his hand against his forehead but suddenly realized it was lying underneath a large quilt. He suddenly felt ashamed. Getting drunk and passing out in the living room was one thing, but the unexpected arrival of the quilt meant that someone had placed it there and Charlie really wasn't setting a good example for his siblings.

Once his headache subsided a bit Charlie slipped the quilt off his shoulders and unsteadily got to his feet. He moved toward the stairs and climbed several flights until he reached his room. There was still a pretty good chance that his siblings hadn't seen him, which allowed Charlie to breathe a bit before sitting down on his desk chair. He breathed in and out a few times before placing his head in his hands and his elbows on the desk.

When he began to feel somewhere close to normal, Charlie stood up and began to move toward his bed. However, before he'd even taken a step, he noticed a scrap of paper lying on the floor. He vaguely remembered having a piece of paper in his back pocket, and realized it must have fallen out when he sat down. He picked it up and opened it. He stared at the very first line: Oliver Wood's address. He sat down again as his mind was suddenly thrust back into last night. He remembered entering the bar, meeting Oliver, ordering drink after drink, hanging around with Oliver's drunken friends, Oliver taking him home, kissing Oliver…

"Oh fuck." He whispered.

That had happened? He'd actually made out with Oliver?

The events of last night replayed themselves clearly in his head.

"_I'm drunk."_

"_I know."_

"_Don't leave me."_

Charlie's cheeks burned at the embarrassment of it all. He'd been acting like an idiot the entire night while Oliver remained calm and composed. He was furious with himself. Why couldn't he for once act his age? He constantly lectured himself on acting like an adult yet here he was neglecting his familial responsibilities, getting shitfaced, experimenting with his sexuality like some hormonally-driven teenage boy.

"Fuck." That brought him right back to what happened between him and Oliver last night. What was he supposed to do? Should he owl Oliver? What would he say? His eyes suddenly grew wide as a horrible thought wormed its way into his brain. Did Oliver want whatever they had to continue? An even more pressing question was did he want it to continue?

Charlie tried hard to concentrate on the kiss from last night. While it was hazy it was obvious to a non-sloshed Charlie that he had enjoyed it immensely, but everyone enjoyed kissing right? Charlie shook his head, laughing at himself. This was ludicrous, they were both blokes! Charlie shouldn't even be considering this anyway.

With that in mind Charlie handed to his bathroom to take some pain potion for his head, have a piss, and rinse out his mouth.

Upon completion of those tasks Charlie headed downstairs to find his entire family eating breakfast.

"Oh good you're awake. You seemed to be out cold when I saw you earlier." Molly said in a cheerful voice, but Charlie could hear the disapproval in her tone.

He sat down in between Percy's fiancé and Arthur, unsure whether to be happy or sad that it was his mother who had found him passed out on the couch. Upon her roughly thrusting a plate of bacon into his chest he decided to be ashamed.

As if sensing Molly's mood the men at the table began to eat more rapidly.

She kept a steady glare on Charlie as he looked down at his plate and tried to avoid her eyes. Once he'd finished his bacon she asked, "So what did you do yesterday Charlie? None of us remember you coming home last night."

Charlie scratched the back of his neck looking shamefaced and then said, "I went out for a drink and ran into Oliver Wood."

Molly's stern expression was immediately replaced by a fond one. "Oh Oliver! I always liked that boy, how is he doing?"

Charlie set down a forkful of potatoes and swallowed since the entire table appeared to be listening to the conversation. "He's playing for Puddlemore United now. He plays keeper." He added for those who didn't know Oliver. "They're doing really well right now. They're in the middle of a Tournament and they just beat the Wasps which has put them in the Finals. Oliver's really excited because this is the first time he's been to the Finals, and if they win their next three games they'll win the title of Best in the League. He really wants the Championship trophy. Apparently it's called Riseman's trophy after the first goblin who-" He faltered.

Charlie's entire family was staring at him in shock. He looked back at them quizzically. "What?"

It was Molly who finally spoke. "It's just we didn't think you were all that into Quidditch anymore."

Charlie shrugged, picked up another forkful of potatoes, swallowed, and then said, "I'm not, but Oliver loves it naturally and he's my friend so I took an interest." His family looked even more incredulous than before.

A long silence passed before Arthur finally spoke. "Well then you should invite him over for dinner tonight."

Charlie's heart soared and plummeted simultaneously. This couldn't be happening to him. He wasn't ready to face Oliver! Oliver's chocolate brown eyes suddenly flitted through his mind and he whimpered. He wondered if that was what dying felt like. Before Charlie could give his family a panic-induced refusal Molly was already clapping her hands and exclaiming that she would make a casserole.

Charlie's brain was in overdrive. He thought he had time to figure out what he was going to say to Oliver, now he only had until the end of breakfast when he was sure his mother would force him to send Oliver a letter inviting him over. He sighed. He shouldn't be thinking about Oliver anyway. Mentally forcing his thoughts away from Oliver he glanced around the table. Most of his family members appeared to be engaging in private discussions with one another although he heard more than one of his brothers asking one another if Charlie was sick. He turned to his left and eyed the woman Percy was apparently planning to marry. She was a beautiful woman with ivory skin and a head full of black curls, although she wore an extremely unflattering pair of glasses. Well if he was going to take an interest in his family he had to start somewhere.

Charlie tapped her on the shoulder. "Um Amy right?" He asked.

"Audrey." She replied, looking more amused than disgruntled.

He blushed but pushed past his mistake. "Right, um would you tell me about yourself?"

A loud noise behind him let him know that his father's elbow had fallen off table due to his shock. Percy was staring at Charlie slack-jawed, and his glasses fell off of his nose onto his plate. He didn't appear to notice.

Audrey seemed unperturbed as she began to speak about her job as a liaison between the Department of Magical Games and the Magical Creatures Department, which Charlie hadn't even known existed until now. As she spoke about how she first met Percy, Charlie chanced a glance at George only to find him staring intensely back at him. They held one another's gaze for less than a minute, and then George gave him a small wink before turning to talk to Bill. Despite his confused feelings and concern about Oliver, that morning Charlie felt a peace like never before wash over him.

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_Don't forget to leave a review. :)_


	5. Two Conversations Charlie Did Not Want t

A/N: I am so happy to have finally gotten this chapter out, mainly because it's the last chapter in which Charlie acts like an emotional prick. :)

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_**Choices**_

_Chapter 5: Two Conversations Charlie Did Not Want to Have in the Weasley Kitchen_

Charlie glanced at his watch for the third time in the past minute. It was 7:02, two minutes after Oliver had said he'd show up in his letter. Perhaps he wasn't going to show. Charlie couldn't blame him if he didn't. His invitation had been pathetic. After rewriting it for over an hour he'd hastily tied it to Firecracker when he thought he heard someone about to come into his room. The letter was shit. It read:

_Dear Oliver,_

_After mentioning our running into each other last night at the pub to my family, they have spontaneously requested that I invite you to dinner tonight at 7. Have a nice day._

_Your friend,_

_Charlie_

He had spent the next hour mentally berating himself on such a pathetic letter. What the hell would Oliver think when he read it? Once an hour passed Firecracker returned with a letter in his beak and Oliver ripped it open eagerly. It read:

_Dear Charlie,_

_Upon receiving your letter I have spontaneously decided to heed your request and respond in the affirmative. I will spontaneously appear around 7. Have a nice day._

_Your friend,_

_Oliver_

Oliver's response had made Charlie hate himself exponentially more than he had before receiving it, since it was clear that Oliver was mocking him. Instead of Avada Kedavra-ing himself right there Charlie decided he would make up for his stupidity in the letter by being extremely charming in person. Of course Oliver's lateness was making this plan more difficult to act out.

Just as Charlie checked his watch for the 146th time the sound of someone knocking at the door reverberated through the house. Charlie suddenly had an overwhelming urge to pee. Even behind a closed door and over the sound of himself urinating he could hear his mother welcoming Oliver into the house and commenting on how long it had been.

Charlie washed his hands thoroughly, double-checked his fly and gave himself one long sniff before realizing he was being ridiculous. It's not like he was even considering dating Oliver, and honestly if Oliver couldn't accept him for who he was then… Charlie smacked himself. He had no idea where that traitorous thought came from, nor did he want to know. He just had to make it through the evening. He was pretty sure he could do that.

Charlie exited the bathroom and headed towards the living room. His eyes sought out Oliver immediately. Oliver was standing across the room with George, obviously conversing about Quidditch. Oliver's arms were flapping around as he enthusiastically went over his last game play-by-play. Before Charlie could move an inch Oliver's eyes locked with his. Oliver excused himself from making conversation with George, and began rapidly moving toward Charlie.

Charlie felt cornered. Why was he coming so fast? They couldn't do this now, in the middle of the living room.

Then Oliver was in front of him, his deep brown eyes focused completely on Charlie. He thrust out a hand and loudly said, "Good to see you again Charlie!"

Charlie took it and Oliver immediately pulled him forward. "Can we talk somewhere else?" Oliver asked.

Charlie nodded and led Oliver into the kitchen.

Almost immediately after the door closed Oliver launched into an apology. "Charlie I am so sorry about last night. I don't know what I was thinking kissing you in the middle of the street like that. I've spent my whole bloody life trying to keep my personal life out of the papers and there I go right when we're in the middle of a tournament kissing you where anyone can see. Anyone could have seen and if your family doesn't know I could've outed you too! Well, even if they did know it wouldn't be fair to you to have your face splashed across the cover of the Prophet. I am such an idiot. I swear nothing like that will ever happen again."

"Outed?" Charlie asked, confused.

"Well it's just for me having the papers know I'm gay is just not an option but I don't know if it's different for you. Are dragon handlers weird about it?"

"But I'm not gay." Charlie responded, even more confused.

If it was possible Oliver's eyes got even wider at that. "Oh shit I just kissed a straight guy. I am so unbelievably sorry. I just assumed because you weren't really all that interested in what the blokes on my team were saying and even at school-"

"What about school?" Charlie asked.

"Well you never dated anyone really, and there were plenty of girls who liked you I just thought…. Look it doesn't matter, you're straight and I made a mistake."

"I never did date anyone at school." Charlie continued incredulously.

Oliver's eyes softened at Charlie's words. "Look my kissing you doesn't mean anything at all. As long as you know you're straight then-"

"But I don't." Charlie finished leaning heavily against the counter. "You don't understand, I've never dated anyone. Ever. I never had any interest in it."

Oliver's jaw dropped. "You've never once thought about dating anyone?"

Charlie nodded miserably. "Not seriously anyway. God I'm thirty years old and I never thought about doing anything with anyone my whole life more than I thought about us after what happened last night."

Oliver stared at Charlie in complete and utter shock, unsure what to do. Hesitantly he reached out a hand and placed it on Charlie's shoulder. "Maybe you should just take some time to think about it. Seriously think about it. For all you know you may not be gay at all, and I shouldn't be around putting pressure on you. I'm so sorry if I messed with your head, I just really liked you and, look I'll just go." He stood up quickly and grasped Charlie's hand, pulling him up as well. "This doesn't have to mean anything Charlie." He said quietly.

Charlie gave him a weak smile.

"I'm serious Charlie." Oliver continued punching him lightly in the shoulder. "I don't want to find out I screwed you up or anything."

Charlie let out a false laugh and gave Oliver his best smile. "I'm fine Oliver really, just a little jarred. You're right, it probably didn't mean anything."

Oliver smiled back and exited the kitchen.

Charlie waited a full thirty seconds, feeling the panic steadily rising within him, and then bolted to the bathroom.

After ten minutes of freaking out in the bathroom and another ten minutes pulling himself together Charlie felt sufficiently calmer. Straight or not, it was stupid to lock himself in the restroom. At his age he was supposed to be mature enough to handle a tiny sexual crisis without acting like a teenaged girl. He pulled open the door with confidence and then nearly jumped out of his skin when he almost ran into Bill, who was standing outside the door.

"Woah" Bill said steadying him. "Are you okay? You've seemed off."

"Hm?" Charlie asked. "What? Yeah of course."

Bill sighed and dragged his little brother into the kitchen. He spun him around and glared at him, crossing his arms over his chest. "Alright what's up?" He asked. "You've been even more out-of-it than usual and that's saying something."

Charlie shuffled his feet, adamant that he wasn't going to bother Bill with this. Of all his brothers Bill was easily the one he was closest to, but he and Bill had a very specific type of relationship. They went to Quidditch games together, Bill teased Charlie about never getting laid and Charlie teased Bill about being married. If Charlie told Bill he'd spent the majority of the evening thinking about the way Oliver had kissed him and the fact that he'd enjoyed it more than he could ever explain, he knew Bill wouldn't know how to approach the situation. Even worse, Bill would probably look at him differently. He let out a small breath and tried to change the subject. "I'm not a very good brother, am I Bill?" He asked.

"You're not the worst brother in the world." Bill said with a roll of his eyes and a small chuckle.

"I'm serious Bill." Charlie continued, looking up. "I've not been there for anybody."

"Whe-"

"After- After Fred I…." Charlie took another lungful of air, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe. "The reserve didn't call me back."

For a long time Bill was silent, and Charlie was unable to look away from the open anguish on his face. Shame washed over him when Bill finally spoke. "Oh Charlie." He muttered, shaking his head.

Charlie looked down and bit his lip, trying to make the floor look less blurry.

"Why?"

The word was uttered with such pain that Charlie lost it, turning away from Bill and breathing heavily over the sink. There was a knife in his throat, the same one he'd used to stab his family in the back.

"I don't- I don't know what's wrong with me." He finally said when he found his voice. "It hurt. It hurt so bloody much. I was supposed to be strong for everybody and you were there and you knew exactly how to do everything and I didn't know anything and I couldn't look at George. I just couldn't! And mum's fucking heart was broken. I just felt so fucking trapped and I just wanted…"

"You wanted someone to tell you it's okay to be upset." Bill finished.

Charlie spun around and realized tears had spilled down his cheeks and onto his shirt. "How did you-" He began.

Bill pulled him into a bone-crushing hug and Charlie cried openly onto his shoulder. "I felt the exact same way Charlie. I had to be strong. God I wish you had told me."

Charlie closed his eyes, the last words hurting more than he could describe. It could have all been different. Bill had been there for him the whole time and he hadn't known it. And that hurt more than anything. When he composed himself he pulled away, unable to hide the disgust he felt with himself for having a weak moment. He let out a low chuckle when he noticed Bill's eyes were filled with tears as well. "Look at us." He mumbled.

Bill let out a weak smile. "There's no shame in mourning a brother Charlie."

Charlie bit his lip wishing more than anything that he could escape this moment.

As if reading his mind Bill placed a hand on his shoulder. "You can't always run from everything Charlie. Tell me how you're feeling right now."

Charlie closed his eyes and bit back the scathing remark he was starting to realize was just one of his many defense mechanisms. "I feel confused." He muttered truthfully. "I don't know how to act around everyone, I don't know where to begin, and I know I shouldn't but I miss the reserve so bloody much and I'm so worried about the dragons and I don't know if I really am or if I'm just running away again, but it feels real. And then there's Oliver…."

"What about Oliver?" Bill asked.

"Nothing." Charlie quickly responded. Opening up about Fred was enough for one night. He wasn't ready to discuss Oliver with Bill just yet.

Bill didn't press him to continue. Instead he stood in front of Charlie for several long minutes, thinking hard. "You overthink things a lot Charlie." He said. "You're always in your own head. Being around the family is a lot easier than you think it is and this anxiety you have over work, it's normal. Just get your head out of your own ass and follow your instincts, even if it leads you to staying up half the night gossiping with Ginny, even if you find yourself relying on other people more than you want to."

"But what if I run?"

Bill smiled. "You won't. I'm quite sure George gave you a very thorough wake up call. You're aware of your flaws and now you're in this weird place where you feel like you have to overcompensate. Just be yourself, and I can guarantee you the family will forgive you without you even having to ask."

Charlie wiped his eyes and let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Oh yeah because that's how I'll be forgiven, by not asking for it."

"That's what family is Charlie." Bill said, taking on a harsher tone. "SHOW us that you want to change, what you've told me right now doesn't prove much. I want to see it." He clapped Charlie on the shoulder. "Just follow your instincts." He squeezed Charlie's shoulder one last time and walked out the door.

Charlie glared at Bill's retreating back, wondering just what the hell that was supposed to mean. For the past two years his instincts had been telling him to run, he didn't know if he could trust them now.

The door suddenly swung open and Oliver walked into the room. "I just wanted to let you know I'm leaving… have you been crying?"

Charlie's entire body went red and he hastily wiped his eyes. "I uh- Bill and I were just talking and uh…" He had no idea how to finish that statement and instead decided to change the subject. "You're leaving? We haven't even started eating dinner yet."

"Yeah." Oliver responded looking very uncomfortable. "I just think it might be better if I go now. So I just wanted to say I'm sorry again for being so presumptuous, and…. I'll just go."

Charlie watched Oliver turn and begin to walk away, and was suddenly hit with the realization that he didn't want Oliver to go. "Wait!" He called out.

Oliver turned back from the door, giving Charlie a questioning glance.

Charlie stared Oliver down, determined to do something right for once. "I don't want it to be like this. I'm just not very good at this. I don't know what I'm doing."

Oliver smiled and walked forward, clapping Charlie on the shoulder. "You need time." He concluded. "I get that and I'm not pressuring you into anything."

Charlie shook his head vehemently. He didn't need time. He'd had all the time in the world, for once in his life he wanted to jump. "I just- I- I want to…" He lunged forward capturing Oliver's lips with his own, throwing his arms around Oliver's neck. He moaned softly as Oliver lips moved against his. Fuck he tasted so good. Why did this feel so bloody good?

Oliver tightened his arms around Charlie's waist, allowing them both to melt into the kiss. When he finally pulled away his expression was one of pure joy. "You want to try?" He asked.

"Yeah." Charlie responded.

"Are you sure you're ready for all of this?"

Charlie shook his head. "No." He responded truthfully. "But sometimes you just have to follow your instincts." He leaned in again but was stopped by a loud screech.

Both looked up just in time to see one of the owls from the Reserve drop a letter on top of Charlie's head. Oliver smiled and fed the owl a few crisps while Charlie opened the envelope.

_Charlie,_

_Don't worry the dragons are all still alive. Seriously I've got everything handled, and Tony figured out the Chinese Fireball's pregnancy about five hours before we got your letter. Mate there is no way anything will get messed up, we've got the master clipboard, and as the guy doing your job for the next two months I am ordering you to have some fun. The dragons will still be here when you get back, through there may be a few extra Chinese Fireballs running around. Now have a bloody great break and I better not catch you sniffing up my alley. Seriously mate, relax. We've got everything covered. Enjoy spending time with your family, and bring home pictures of the new baby._

_-Marty_

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_Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and alerted this story. You give me the inspiration to keep going.  
_


	6. Making Amends

_**Choices**_

_Chapter 6: Making Amends  
_

Deciding to act on his big gay feelings turned out to be not that difficult compared to Charlie's next, much larger task. After a night of stolen kisses and sharing gleeful expressions with Oliver across the Weasley dinner table, Charlie discovered it was much more difficult dating a professional Quidditch player than he'd originally thought. The two quickly realized that Oliver's next free moment was three days from their dinner, for an hour between Oliver's weight training and general practice session.

In the meantime Bill was skipping around the house after having heard that Fleur would be released from St. Mungos by the end of the week. Charlie had readily agreed to help Bill move Fleur out.

The next two days passed with Charlie skulking around the house, butting into everyone's business and constantly offering to help everyone with any and all minor tasks. Angelina finally grounded him when he tried to help her whisk an egg.

Charlie lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling and wondering why on earth he had listened to her. He couldn't help but feel relieved as well. Constantly being in the company of his family had been exhausting. He should have known he couldn't fix years and years of neglect with two days of taking out the trash and fetching people's forgotten items.

Charlie was just beginning to formulate another plan when Bill walked in. He raised an eyebrow at Charlie's position on the bed and then sighed. "Alright then. It's time to get out the house."

Charlie's mouth twisted into a smirk. "I'm being kicked out already?" He joked.

"Yes." Bill stated. "Angelina says you are in a very suggestible mood right now. Apparently she grounded you and you took her seriously."

"You could say that." Charlie replied. "So it would be pretty hard to leave what with my grounding an all."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Alright let's go. You don't have to spend every waking moment in this house, you don't see me doing it." He reasoned.

Charlie raised an eyebrow.

Bill turned pink. "Well it's lonely at the house without Fleur! When she finally comes home then you won't see me around!"

Charlie's eyebrow rose even higher.

"What?" Bill questioned hotly.

"So when Victoire was born it wasn't you that showed up every other day begging Mum to take her off your hands?"

"How did you know about that?"

"I still get mail in Romania."

Bill cheeks were flaming more than his hair. "That was a long time ago and I have grown a lot since- Don't you look at me like that!" He shouted. "Now come on so we can go have some bloody fun." He stalked out of the room. "We'll see what you're like when you have kids." He muttered.

After a minute of chuckling Charlie finally stood up and followed Bill out of the room. As he descended the many stairs Arthur Weasley had built for his children, Charlie began to wonder how he felt about kids, and how this whole gay thing would affect that.

* * *

Bill smiled down at his Bertie's Bubble ice cream and looked up at his brother who appeared to have a storm cloud over his head. Literally. "What?" He asked, trying to hold in his laughter.

"Ice cream. You took me out for ice cream. How old do you think I am?" Charlie asked his arms flailing angrily. One arm knocked into the storm cloud and it promptly began to rain on his head. He groaned and put his head in his hands. "This is all your fault."

"I'm not the one who ordered Stormy's RAINbow sunshine cone." Bill replied. "And I'm sure in a second it will- oh there it goes now."

The storm cloud had dissipated and a small sun had appeared in its place, and just to put a cherry on top of Charlie's oh-so-perfect day a rainbow also appeared a second later. Charlie was sure he was going to die of embarrassment.

"Oh Charlie look at you!" Bill teased. "All the other kids are so jealous."

Charlie peeked through his fingers only to discover that several children from the next table over were peeking over the back of their chairs and staring at his head in awe. He groaned and placed his head back in his hands again. "I hate you so much."

Bill stood up. "Yes I know." He disinterestedly replied. "Now let's move to our next destination. Your sun has gone away."

Charlie thoroughly checked his reflection in the glass tabletop before he finally gave himself a stamp of approval. He stood and stalked after Bill and pointedly raised his jacket collar when the children from the next table waved to him as he left.

* * *

"Bill, are you sure about this?"

"Yep."

"But, what if she hits me?"

"She will."

Charlie took in a large gulp and followed Bill into St. Mungos. He sat in the almost completely empty waiting room while Bill spoke to the woman behind the counter. He couldn't help the nervous feelings that took over him as he sat there. The last time he'd been there had begun with him screwing up and ended with George yelling at him. Not to mention hospitals had always disturbed him.

"Here you go." Bill handed him a badge. "Alright, let's go." He stated.

Charlie reluctantly took the badge trying to ignore the fact that it said in bright pink letters:

**Charlie Weasley**

**Making Amends**

"You think you're really funny don't you?" He asked.

"Yep" Bill replied while calling the lift.

They meandered into the lift and Charlie gave Bill a questioning look when he pressed number 8. "Isn't Fleur on the fifth floor?" He asked.

"You'll see." Bill replied mysteriously.

Charlie followed Bill around several corners going down a path Bill obviously knew quite well. They stopped in front of a room with a large glass window and Bill pushed him in front of it.

"She's right-" Bill began but Charlie had already found her. His eyes had been drawn to her instantaneously. She was easily the smallest one of the bunch, a bundle of pink, underneath a pink blanket. There was no mistaking her with anyone else. Even at only a few days old Dominique Weasley had the same iridescent quality as her mother, drawing attention from the other babies. Just for a minute as he stared at her he saw one of her impossibly tiny fingers move. He could see tufts of Fleur's silvery blond hair lining the top of her head.

Bill seemed to have seen that as well and let out a groan. "Bloody hell she's thrown off her hat again." He muttered. He departed quickly in search of a Healer.

Charlie continued to stand in front of the glass doorway staring down at his niece. He leaned so close that his nose was pressed against the window, but he couldn't look away. She had to be the most beautiful baby in the world. None of the other babies even came close to her. Charlie smiled at the thought but then let it go. He was an uncle once again, he was allowed to be a bit irrational.

He pulled back from the glass when he heard Bill approaching with the Healer. The Healer smiled and entered the room, closing it quietly behind him.

"So?" Bill asked as they watched the Healer pick her up.

Charlie could barely tear his eyes away. He gave Bill a soft smile and wiped at his misty eyes. "She's beautiful Bill." He mumbled.

The Healer stepped out of the room and handed Dominique over to Bill. He smiled down at her with pure pride in his eyes. "Do you want to hold her?" Bill asked.

Charlie nodded quietly.

Bill handed him the baby and he held her gently in his arms. Her eyes were wide open and she was staring up at him looking almost confused. Charlie was shocked he hadn't noticed when she'd woken up. Victoire always awoke with a bang, crying out for her mother or making baby noises, but Dominique just stared at him interestedly, looking like she had decided there was no need for all that fuss. He lifted a tentative hand and smoothed back her hair.

"Fleur keeps telling me she's going to keep the blonde hair."

Charlie heard Bill as if he was very far away.

"She said the same thing about Victoire and that clearly didn't go over." He let out a small laugh.

Charlie finally looked up. Victoire had been born with blonde hair just like Dominique, but it had quickly turned to a strawberry blonde. Everyone had warned Fleur that there was a good chance Victoire's would become darker later in her life, but Fleur had still been put out all the same. He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah I know I didn't get it at first either." Bill chuckled. "Strawberry blonde is really rare, but I think Fleur was kind of hoping for a miniature version of herself. Although I've been telling her for years we haven't had a platinum blonde Weasley born since great great Aunt Mabel." He smiled goofily.

"You never know." Charlie whispered running his hands through his niece's hair again.

Bill smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "Ready to face your other demon?" He joked.

Charlie let out a nervous chuckle.

* * *

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief when they walked into Fleur's room and she was out cold. "Do you want to wake her up?" He asked.

Bill shook his head. "No, let her sleep. She's exhausted." He gave Charlie a cheeky grin. "I guess you got lucky."

Charlie rolled his eyes and then lifted them to Bill's face. "Can I ask what happened?" He questioned.

Bill's joyful eyes hardened a bit and he let out a tired sigh. "It all happened really fast. She was having normal contractions and then…" He broke off and closed his eyes. He breathed in and exhaled. "She was in so much pain." He whispered. "The Healers didn't know what was happening. It's really rare, Capiovirus Potentiae."

"What is that?" Charlie asked.

"It's a defect. When the baby begins to draw on the mother's magic to strengthen their own. It makes for some really powerful magicians, Gellert Grindelwald's mother died from it. Most mothers do die unless the Healers can catch it in time." He sat down heavily in a chair placing his hands together in his lap. "Luckily we did. But for a whole hour no one could tell me why my wife was fading away from me. Why I was losing her." Tears spilled over his cheeks. He placed his face in his left hand, rubbing at his eyes.

Charlie looked away.

Bill let out a shaky breath and continued. "They called in a specialist and she diagnosed her, saved her in time. They had to suppress Dominique's magic until Fleur had finished giving birth. Fleur's still really weak right now, can barely accio a pen. They say she'll get most of it back over the next couple months."

Charlie placed a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. "Bill I am so sorry."

They stayed like that for several minutes while Bill tried to regain control over his emotions. Finally when Charlie couldn't take it anymore he asked the nagging question that had been in the back of his brain for days. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

Bill sighed. "I wanted to. When I first found out there was something wrong I wanted to Owl you. Mum thought it would be better to wait until we knew something, not burden you unnecessarily."

Even though Bill hadn't meat it to be, Charlie felt shamed by his words. His own mother believed he thought of his families issues as a burden.

"I realize now that was stupid. I should have called you." Bill continued. "Everything was happening at once. I didn't know what would happen to Fleur or Dominique. And then when we got the news that they were both fine we were so relieved. Mum sent you a letter but I'm sure she was just really happy they were going to be fine."

Charlie remembered that letter, one line he had found confusing sticking out now more than ever: "Fleur is doing fine and bouncing back from the scare. I'm sure Bill told you."

He sucked in a breath. "She thought you told me." He stated.

"Oh God." Bill replied. "I was supposed to and then one of the Healers showed up to tell me the _good_ news." His voice turned bitter. "Now that Fleur's experienced this with Dominique there's zero chance that it will happen with any future children. Tactless arsehole. Like I'd ever put her through that again. And right as I was about to deck him McGonagall shows up with Dominique's Hogwarts letter, telling me she's going to be something great one day."

Charlie watched in fascination as Bill's tone went from bitter to proud.

"And then Fred came in and I…. It's no excuse I'm sorry." He finished looking ashamed. "In all that mess I just…"

"Forgot." Charlie finished for him trying to keep the hurt out of his voice. "It's fine."

"I did need you there Charlie." Bill responded. "It's just everyone else…"

"…Was there for you. Had been there for you."

"Charlie don't-"

"No Bill I'm tired of not dealing with this. Remember when we were little and we told each other everything?"

"Charlie we were little, that's what happens with siblings. Somewhere down the line you just…"

"…yeah **I **just." Charlie finished. "I'm not looking for pity Bill. I want to change things, I want to be there for you. I will be there for you." He turned around and placed his hands on his brother's shoulders. "You're my brother and I love you."

Bill smirked. "Alright then." He responded. "We'll be there for each other." He held out a hand and Charlie took it. "Well I'm done with this depressing conversation." He quickly changed the subject. "When are you going to get a life and stop hanging around the house all day?"

Charlie let out a weak scoff and tried to smile. "I have a life."

"Name one thing you have planned for this week."

"I'm hanging out with Oliver tomorrow." The sentence slipped out of his lips before his brain had time to reel it back in. When Charlie realized what he said he felt his neck flush and then stood there helplessly as it spread to the roots of his hair.

Bill scrutinized him carefully. "No you're not." He responded.

Charlie's flush became even more pronounced.

"You're lying…"

"I am not!" Charlie cut in hopelessly.

"…or at least not telling me the whole truth. Oh my God you're going on a date!"

Charlie's blood ran cold. How did he-? "You- you know?" He asked.

"Oh I knew it! I knew it!" Bill exclaimed jumping up. "After all these years of celibacy you dog! Well who is she?" He asked.

"She?" Charlie questioned.

"The girl whose got you all hot and bothered! Though why you still feel the need to go on a double date at your age I have no idea. 'Hanging out' indeed." He waggled his eyebrows at his words. "Come on give me the name."

Charlie groaned sitting down in Bill's abandoned chair.

Bill's jovial expression quickly turned to concern. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Charlie shook his head, unclear how 'Hanging out with Oliver' had become 'Having sex with some random woman.' "This is such a mess." He mumbled.

"You're nervous huh?" Bill asked and Charlie was surprised to hear no mockery in his voice. "It's ok. I know you've had no experience-"

"I have had experi…."

"-barely any experience in this area." Bill amended. "Just relax mate. Don't get all twitchy like you normally do. Ask her about her life and above all else do not tell her that your most meaningful romantic adventure was that time we caught you with Mum's magic whisk broom."

"That was-"

"Yes I know a giant mistake and I don't know all your business and what you get up to in Romania but you know what I mean besides."

Charlie nodded. "Thanks." He muttered. He bit his lip, thinking hard and then decided to go for it. Why not? They'd promised each other new beginnings and all. "Bill there's something you should know about my date tomorrow." He said.

"What's that?" Bill asked.

"You see-"

"Beel?"

Charlie watched in amazement as Bill ran to his wife's side. Fleur was giving her husband a warm smile, her big blue eyes blinking tiredly as she spoke to him quietly. Charlie tried not to be too mad at her for cutting in at such an awful moment.

She suddenly caught sight of him and sat up in a huff, placing her slender hands on her hips. "And just where 'ave you been?" She asked.

Charlie laughed. When Bill had brought her home he had been the only one who had liked her. Probably because he wasn't mooning over her like the rest of his brothers or throwing jealousy fits like his mother and sister. He moved toward her and held her head in his hands, giving her a small kiss on cheek. "I'm so sorry, mon cherie."

"Tell it to some uzzer girl Charlie." She snapped back though she reluctantly gave him a kiss on each cheek as well. "I know you 'ave been avoiding me. You 'ad better be lucky I did not want so many visitors now or I would never 'ave forgiven you."

"Oh really?" Bill asked sitting down on her bed. "And why is that?"

"I 'ave told you zis a thousand times Beel. I do not want so many peoples to zee me zis way. I am all sweaty and I smell."

"How is that any different than usual?" Bill asked.

Fleur hit him on the arm and began to furiously berate him in French while Bill held up his hands saying again and again that it had only been a joke.

Charlie watched the squabbling couple with a smile on his face. It took Fleur nearly an hour after that to finally stop huffing in his presence and let him actually sit down but he enjoyed every minute of it. He'd missed her and he was just glad to be there.

* * *

A/N: Alright sorry about the delay... again. I really have no excuse other than the fact that I'm a huge nerd when it comes to my schoolwork. I had planned on including Oliver and Charlie's date in this chapter but I kept you guys waiting long enough. So it will be in the next chapter and... since I respond so well to deadlines I've decided to set myself one. So the next chapter will be out on 7/21/12. Ta da! Peace!


	7. First Date

**_Choices_**

_Chapter 7: First Date_

* * *

Charlie only needed one adjective to describe himself the day of his first date with Oliver and that was "nervous". Bill had attempted to prepare him with all sorts of advice that didn't in any way apply to Charlie's peculiar situation. Everything about this date was completely foreign to him. Not only was it with a guy, but it was occurring in the middle of the afternoon, and would only last an hour because it was technically Oliver's lunch break.

"They normally give me more time during the day than just over an hour." He'd said. "But the day before a game is crucial. We don't practice much so we won't injure ourselves before the game. We mostly spend all day talking tactics."

Charlie was both terribly depressed and extremely grateful at the idea of only having an hour with Oliver. He was liking Oliver more and more and the excitement of this new relationship was palpable. However, there was that nagging doubt in his mind that said he was going to wreck everything, and at the very least if he ruined things he could get out of there in an hour. Oliver made him nervous, and Charlie was very aware that he did not cope well with nerves.

Deciding not to think about what would happen if he screwed this up, Charlie chose to think positively. He apparated directly outside Oliver's flat and waited for him to arrive and let down the magical barrier for him.

Oliver appeared not even a minute after Charlie apparated outside his building. The first thing Oliver noticed was that he was wet, or at least his hair was. The second thing was that Oliver's skin was much pinker than usual. It was apparent he'd just showered. He was wearing royal blue track shorts and a matching exercise shirt, making Charlie feel completely overdressed in the slacks and collared shirt he'd spent way too long picking out. On Oliver's wrist was a small gold watch with a quaffle where the twelve mark should have been. Both the hands were brooms, but the minute hand had a bludger at one end of the broom, while the hour hand had a snitch at the end of its broom.

"Hey." Oliver said, leaning in.

Charlie panicked for a split second, unsure what to do as Oliver closed in on him. Were they supposed to kiss? But the moment passed with no touching of the lips. Instead, Oliver pulled Charlie into a hug, pressing his firm stomach against Charile's body. Charlie had to work hard not to drool.

Oliver pulled back and placed his hands on Charlie's shoulders. "You know." He began. "I just noticed I'm taller than you."

Charlie tried not to blush. He'd hit his growth spurt young and had been taller than the other kids for a long time, then after a while the other kids kept growing and he stopped. He knew standing at 5'8" was nothing to write home about, especially when the guy he was dating had a full two inches on him.

Apparently Charlie had failed at not blushing because Oliver smirked and pushed him toward the door. "Come on." He said. "It's two flights up, do you mind legging it?" He asked.

Charlie shook his head and they trekked up two flights of polished brass stairs until they reached Oliver's flat.

Oliver pulled out a large brass key, pushed it in the lock, and turned it. Immediately Charlie could hear a series of locks being opened from the inside until there was one final click right at the knob. Oliver pulled him in.

Charlie could do nothing but stare at the inside of Oliver's flat. The door opened into an extremely spacious living room filled with Quidditch gear. On one wall was a large rack containing three brooms. On another wall were a two bins with various balls in them and a large fireplace. One held Quaffles, and the other held several large medicine balls. In a corner were a series of binders stack on a round glass table, some of which had papers spilling out the sides. Charlie could tell from the papers that the binders were filled with Quidditch plays. Another corner had a revolving round, glass curio case with photos of family members and Quidditch players, trophies, and medals on each of the shelves. The top shelf was the largest one and was completely empty. There was a very comfortable looking white couch on the wall to the right, with several yoga mats sticking out from behind it. But it wasn't the size of the room or the fact that Oliver's flat was completely Quidditch-oriented that disturbed him. It was the almost foreign smell coming from it. A smell devoid of his mother's cooking, the burnt smell dragon's left behind, or even that still faint smell coming from Fred and George's room which had never quite left after the dungbomb incident.

"So I'm not sure how this goes. I guess I could give you the tour or-"

"Your flat smells really clean."

Oliver blinked twice. He scratched his head and let out a small chuckle. "Yeah Lane just cleaned it yesterday."

Charlie didn't need two guesses to know who Lane was. There was no way a home filled with sweaty Quidditch gear smelled this good without regular maid service. "Do you train in here?" He asked.

"Not really. I do some low intensity training up here, but mostly I train in my Quidditch room, where I keep all the equipment."

Charlie had no idea what other equipment Oliver could need, if the brooms and quaffles were up here. He decided not to ask and turned back to the curio case. He picked up a photo and stared. There were four people in the photo. The first was a clean shaven very shapely man with short greying hair. The second was a youthful looking middle aged woman with a long greying ponytail and a knowing expression on her face. The last was another woman, who looked about Charlie's age, and whose features resembled Oliver's. She was holding a large trophy and lightly goading Oliver, who was the last person in the photo.

"That's my mum, dad and sister." Oliver said.

Charlie smiled and waited for the curio case to rotate back to the empty space where he took the photo from, so he could set it down. He looked up at the top of the case. "Why haven't you put anything up there?" He asked.

Oliver chuckled and clapped a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "_That_ is reserved for when we finally make Best in the League. Until then it'll stay empty." He turned to fully look at Charlie, an unbelievably bright twinkle in his eye. "We're gonna make it this year." He said with unwavering conviction. "I can feel it."

Charlie smiled.

Oliver snapped out of his fantasy and pulled Charlie toward the couch. "Sit down." He ordered politely. "I made some oxtail soup for us to eat. Do you like oxtail soup? And do you want something to drink?"

"Yes and no." Charlie replied and attempted to follow Oliver when he started to leave the room.

"No, make yourself comfortable." Oliver said as he made his way toward what Charlie guessed to be the kitchen. "I just need to heat it up."

Charlie could hear scraping and banging sounds coming from the kitchen and he sat back against the couch, trying to ignore the nervous energy that was once again building up inside him.

Oliver returned a second later holding two steaming bowls of soup. "Is this okay?" He asked, holding out the soup.

"It looks great." Charlie responded taking the bowl from Oliver.

Oliver smiled. "No, I meant the date. I know it's kind of weird that we're having it here, but if we went out somewhere I definitely wouldn't make it back to practice on time and coach'll have the head of anyone who dares to be late to practice."

"It's fine." Charlie said quickly. "It's great actually I…" He trailed off, having lost his train of thought. "I think it's great."

"Great." Oliver joked placing the spoon in his mouth. He winked deviously at Charlie and set his soup on the table next to him and then placed an arm around Charlie shoulders.

Charlie's face was burning and he had no idea what to do expect to concentrate on eating his soup and keep his shaking hands from spilling it on the floor. His eyes briefly caught Oliver's so he calmly set the almost finished soup in his lap and tried to think of something to say. "I like your shirt, what is it made out of?" He asked and immediately slapped himself mentally.

It took everything in the world for Oliver not to snort. "Erm polyester I think." He responded, choking back a laugh.

"Oh."

"You don't do this much do you?" Oliver asked.

Charlie turned to completely face Oliver and handed him his bowl of soup. Oliver leaned over and placed it on the desk next to his. "What was your first clue?" He joked.

Oliver pretended to think hard for about two seconds and before speaking. "It was probably when you were telling me about your early growth spurt outside of my apartment."

"I said that out loud?" Charlie asked, humiliated.

"Yes." Oliver said pulling his arm back. "Alright let's try another tactic." He said. "Tell me about your life."

Charlie sighed and rolled his eyes, placing his arm on the back of the couch and relaxing slightly against it. "You know everything about me." He said. "I raise dragons and I have a large, very boisterous family."

"Really?" Oliver asked. "That's everything? No friends? No adventures?"

Charlie squirmed under Oliver's penetrating gaze and finally gave in. "Fine, I have friends back at the Reserve, but Bill's always been my best friend."

"That's cute."

"Shut up." Charlie laughed, punching Oliver lightly in the shoulder. "We've grown apart a bit since I left, but I think we're getting back on track now. I feel like I can talk to him again." He smiled gently. "Hell, just yesterday I almost told him about us."

Charlie could feel the air in the room shift as Oliver froze in front of him. When he finally spoke up his voice was hoarse. "But you didn't right?" He asked.

"No, I was interrupted."

Oliver let out a shaky breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "I…" He began running his fingers through his hair. "God I feel horrible for asking this considering what you just said but could you do me a favor and not tell Bill or anyone else about us right now?" He asked.

"Why? Are you ashamed of me?" Charlie joked.

Oliver smiled. "Of course not. It's just, I'm in the middle of a tournament right now, we have a shot of winning Best in the League for Puddlemore United's for the first time in 15 years and I'm constantly being watched. This would be the absolute worst time for this to come out."

Charlie placed a comforting hand on Oliver's lap. "You know Bill would never tell anyone if I asked him not to, right?"

"Of course he wouldn't." Oliver said quickly. "He's your brother. It's just this tournament is doing my head in and I'm already stressed out of my mind and-"

Charlie smiled at Oliver's blabbering form. Somehow watching Oliver go to pieces was draining the nervous energy right out his brain. It was being replaced by the thought that Oliver looked ridiculously cute when he was flustered. He decided to be bold and cut Oliver off by placing a light kiss on his lips. "Ok." He said when he had pulled back.

"Ok?" Oliver asked stupidly.

"Yeah, ok." Charlie responded, unable to stop smiling at his own impulsiveness and Oliver's adorably confused face. "I won't tell anyone."

"That's it?" Oliver's eyes widened.

"Yes." Charlie laughed.

Oliver let out a very unmanly shriek and kissed Charlie hard, pushing him down until his he was lying on top of the slightly shorter man. "You." He said between kisses. "Are." _Kiss_ "So." _Kiss _"Amazing."_ Kiss_

When Oliver pulled away Charlie had an unnaturally goofy smile on his face, causing Oliver to lean down for another round of snogging. When he finally pulled back the two were substantially more ruffled than they were when they came in. Oliver gently placed his head on Charlie's chest, listening to Charlie's heart beat slow down beneath him. The stayed like that for several minutes, until Oliver couldn't resist the urge anymore and lifted his head. "Can I ask you a question?" He asked unblinkingly staring into Charlie's brown eyes.

Charlie nodded.

Oliver started out slowly, apparently trying to pick his words carefully. "I know I'm the first guy you've been with…" He began.

"Yes?" Charlie prompted.

"…but I'm not the only person you've ever been with right?" He continued.

"What?" Charlie sat up, nearly knocking his knee into Oliver's ribcage. "Why would you think that?" He asked.

"No reason in particular." Oliver said quickly. "You just seem a bit-"

"What?"

"Nothing." Oliver said unable to stop the snort that escaped his throat.

Charlie glared at Oliver's laughing form. "Is it that hard to believe that I've been with someone besides you?"

Oliver's laughter increased. "I swear I'm not laughing at you." He choked out. "I'm sure you've been with plenty of women."

"Lots of women! Scores even!" Charlie protested.

Oliver's laughter had turned to hysterics.

"Shut it!" Charlie yelled, crossing his arms, and choosing to ignore Oliver even when he fell off the couch onto the floor.

Oliver groaned and pulled himself back onto the couch. "That hurt." He said.

"Serves you right ya knobhead." Charlie responded irritably.

"Come on don't be mad." Oliver said, slipping his arms in between Charlie's crossed ones.

Charlie finally rolled his eyes and relaxed some.

Oliver smiled and pulled Charlie's chest against his own. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. This isn't really a first date conversation." He said.

Charlie stared at his lap for several minutes before answering. "One." He said.

"One?" Oliver repeated. "In thirty years?" He asked.

Charlie's face glowed redder.

"Wow." Oliver said. "Well if it makes you feel better I've only been with two blokes."

Charlie lifted his head and smacked Oliver on the forehead. "Then why are you making me feel guilty?" He asked.

"Well I'm not thirty." Oliver replied. "At my age I can say I've screwed too blokes and still be considered cool."

Charlie's jaw dropped. "You- you screwed them."

Oliver rubbed his neck, looking thoroughly uncomfortable. "I'd rather not talk about who did the screwing and what not if that's okay. Though I suppose it's unfair since I know who was the pin and who was the needle in your relationship."

Charlie blushed and buried his head into Oliver's shoulder.

"What?" Oliver asked, feeling his shirt heating up alarmingly fast.

Charlie mumbled something into his shirt.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "I don't speak shirt you know."

Charlie pulled back, face bright red. "I may have misunderstood the question." He said.

Oliver looked completely confused. "What did you think I was talking about?"

Charlie looked down unable to face Oliver's questioning gaze. "The truth is, I've only been with one person and it was a pretty short-lived and humiliating experience."

"This sounds good." Oliver said, rubbing his hands together. "Do I know her?"

"Yeah." Charlie said. "It's really not all that interesting." He continued.

But Oliver was having none of that. "Come on you have to tell me know."

"Alright." Charlie said. "Do you know Nymphadora Tonks?" He asked.

Oliver burst out laughing. "Tonks? You dated Tonks?"

"No!" Charlie burst out vehemently. "I mean, not exactly." He continued.

"Alright." Oliver said when he'd gotten himself under control. "Tell me everything."

Charlie couldn't help but wonder how his first date with Oliver had turned into him recounting his first and only love story. "Well, in fifth year one of my friends told me Tonks liked me and I didn't really know what to do with that. So I spent the next month watching her for signs of whether or not she liked me and agonizing over whether or not I liked her back."

Oliver smirked.

Charlie blushed. "Merlin I sound like a teenager."

"You were a teenager." Oliver reminded him.

"Right." Charlie continued. "So finally I decided to do something about it. When we were alone I pulled her toward me and kissed her." He blushed.

"What happened?" Oliver asked, leaning so close that Charlie could count his eyelashes.

"Erm I didn't really enjoy it much." Charlie continued, rubbing his neck. "And apparently she didn't either. She sort of pulled away and calmly told me she used to like me but had given up on me a few weeks ago. She decided Adrian Bones was a much better match for her and that we were better off friends." He looked into Oliver's eyes, waiting for the ridicule.

Oliver eyes, however, held no amusement. Instead there was only confusion. "Is that it?" He asked.

Charlie nodded.

"That's the whole story."

"Uh yeah." Charlie continued, completely confused.

"That is the story of the one relationship you've had your entire life?"

Charlie turned pink. "It's not a big deal."

"It's a huge deal!" Oliver continued. "No wonder you're terrified of me!"

Charlie huffed and crossed his arms. "I am _not_ terrified of you."

Oliver didn't seem to hear him. "I just thought you were virginal at this gay thing but you're a virgin at everything!"

Charlie swatted at Oliver. "I am not a "virgin at everything", I made out with you didn't I?" He asked.

Oliver groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. "I practically forced myself on you!"

"I'll show you who's forceful." Charlie growled then pushed Oliver back against the couch pinning his arms above his head and pulling him into the most mindblowing kiss he'd ever experienced. Oliver mumbled a muffled protest against his mouth, so Charlie finally let up with a sigh. He drew back so he was sitting on his legs and glared down at Oliver who had a glazed expression on his face.

Oliver shook his head a bit and collapsed against the couch. "Wow." He sighed. "How does someone with so little experience kiss like that?" He asked.

Charlie groaned under the weight of his own humiliation. "I don't know." He said. "But if you don't shut up I may never kiss you again."

Oliver smirked and sat up, leaning against his propped elbows. "Alright, I've got to know, why? Are you waiting for some reason?" He asked. "It doesn't matter I'd just rather know my boundaries now than get slapped later."

Charlie blanched. "Slapped? I'm not a bloody girl Oliver. It's not like I haven't had offers, I just haven't found them all that interesting. But now that I think about it, you're the first bloke to ever proposition me."

Oliver smiled and reached up, running his fingers through Charlie's short hairs. "Charlie Weasley, you have to be the gayest straight bloke I have ever met."

Charlie dropped his head in exasperation. "Yes I'm strange, can we kiss now?" He questioned.

Oliver answered him by leaning up and gently capturing his lips again.

Charlie sighed in relief as he once again felt Oliver's rough lips against his own. The once gentle kiss quickly turned dirty when their tongues met. Oliver moaned beneath him and pushed their groins together. Charlie gasped at the feeling and pushed his body impossibly closer to Oliver's warm body. Oliver's hands were moving up and down his back. He pushed Charlie's shirt up, and felt the warm skin underneath it. Oliver's hands kneaded Charlie's back whenever his tongue performed an especially talented maneuver, and lightly pinched his skin when Charlie pushed their groins together. Charlie's breathing was shallow, and his heart was racing. Oliver cradled his cheek and he nearly burst into tears from the rightness of it all. There was no way he could ever let this end, there was no world outside of kissing Oliver…

_Cuckoo! Cuckoo!_

With some effort Oliver pulled back from Charlie and lifted his wrist to his face, eyeing the Quidditch watch. The original face had disappeared, and instead there was a golden snitch placed where the one should have been. "Shit." He groaned. "I've got to get to practice."

Charlie let out a frustrated moan and moved back, allowing Oliver space to get up.

Oliver cupped his face gently in his hands and let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry." He said. "I've got practice."

Charlie smiled and kissed Oliver gently on the cheek. "Okay."

Oliver stood with some difficulty and shuffled off to his room. The second he left, Charlie collapsed against the couch, feeling exhausted, satisfied, and incredibly frustrated all at once. He stared at the ceiling and gently rubbed his lips.

It took less than five minutes for Oliver to reappear in his Quidditch gear, holding a large bag. He took one look at Charlie sprawled on his couch, and his resolve began to crumble. He shook his head lightly and reached out a hand to Charlie, pulling him up. They walked together over to Oliver's fireplace and Oliver pointed to the pot adjacent to Charlie's elbow. "The floo powder's right here." He whispered, leaning into Charlie again.

Charlie answered by smiling shyly at Oliver, and that was all it took for Oliver to start kissing him again, pushing him against the fireplace, and ravishing his mouth. Charlie responded eagerly, running his hands through Oliver's hair.

Oliver pulled away much too quickly. He pressed his forehead against Charlie's and tried to calm his breathing. "I really have to go." He said sadly.

Charlie smiled and kissed Oliver again. "I'll let you go before you get in trouble." He said, then gently pulled away from Oliver and took a pinch of the Floo powder on the mantle. He stepped into the fireplace, almost collapsing under his jelly legs and yelled "The Burrow" in a surprisingly strong voice. Oliver's face was the last thing he saw before he was met once again by the warm sights and smells of the Weasley living room.

* * *

A/N: I apologize for it being as few days late. I wound up having to do several people favors and attend one very awesome show. Anyone who hasn't seen Cirque du Soleil hasn't lived. Anyway I'm going to once again set a deadline, but it is a very tentative deadline. This is mostly because the furor surrounding the birthday I don't want to celebrate may delay the next chapter. So I'm going to try and shoot for 7/31/12.


	8. Charlie Weasley vs estrogen

_**Choices**_

_Chapter 8: Charlie Weasley vs. estrogen  
_

A/N: Once again I apologize for the unfortunate turn of events. My laptop is still broken which may also delay the next chapter. :( But the good news is thanks to my nerdy brother and his fancy external hard drive I was able to post this chapter much sooner than expected. :)

* * *

Hours after Charlie's date, he found himself hiding in his room. His thoughts were quite conflicted. He simultaneously found himself experiencing a huge bout of anticipation and worry. The anticipation was aimed entirely at Oliver. Any anxiety Charlie had had about dating Oliver and what that meant for his sexuality had been replaced by a near primal need to be with Oliver again. He was shaking from the memory of their date, and he couldn't get rid of the thoughts that came into his head about what they might have done had they not been interrupted.

Sitting in his room and becoming more and more excited about the prospect of another date might have been unbearable for Charlie is there wasn't a second, more worrisome thought flitting through his head. This worry had everything to do with his younger brother's very devious girlfriend. Angelina Johnson was a force to be reckoned with. Her cunning rivaled that of many many Slytherins. You had to be cunning to date a Weasley twin, and Angelina had dated two. Or at least that was what Ron had told them. It was for that reason that the Weasleys, Molly especially, hadn't been particularly welcoming toward her. It was offputting to most of the family that George had started dating his twin's ex. Angelina had held that in stride, never once showing weakness and quickly won everyone over. It was only after she was a part of the family that she let George reveal the truth. Her "relationship" with Fred consisted of one date to the Yule Ball, where Fred spent the entire evening singing George's praises and encouraging him to finally step up.

Once the focus was off Angelina it allowed Molly to shift her attention toward Audrey, Percy's fiancé, who she still wasn't comfortable around because Audrey herself was very ambitious. Perhaps it was only normal in Charlie's family for Molly to criticize her son's girlfriends. For a minute Charlie wondered how she would react to Oliver, then blushed at the thought. He still wasn't sure where their relationship stood and whether or not they were exclusive. It was way too early to be introducing Oliver to his mother.

Charlie had always tried to stay out of the witch hunt. He liked Fleur when they first met, and found her high-strung attitude amusing rather than annoying. For the brief time he was there after Fred's funeral that he spoke to Angelina (although she and George were not dating at the time) Charlie found her very pleasant and amusing. Finally since he'd come home he'd made an effort to know Audrey, and he'd found her incredibly funny.

However, now Charlie was beginning to wonder if his mother's first instinct about Angelina had been right. Although she was incredibly beautiful and witty Charlie was starting to see her devious side. Not even a minute after the end of his date with Oliver he'd stumbled out of the Weasley fireplace in a daze. He'd had to lean back against the fireplace to keep his legs from collapsing underneath him. He'd closed his eyes and basked in the feeling of Oliver's lips against his own, before he began to analyze his current state. And as he leaned there, eyes closed, hair askew, collar inside out and shirt untucked, unable to move because Oliver's kiss had taken him apart at the seams he was struck by the utter ridiculousness of the situation. And before he knew it a giggle began to bubble in his throat, until he was unable to take it anymore and became consumed by hysterical laughter. That laughter stopped abruptly when he finally opened his eyes, and immediately locked on Angelina Johnson, who'd been sitting in the living room the entire time. He stared at her for a full minute, completely frozen, and unsure what to do. She stared back at him with an equally incredulous look on her face. Then, all of a sudden, her mouth spread into the most evil grin Charlie had ever seen. She stood up and made to leave the room, but right before she walked out the door she gave Charlie a _look_. A look that clearly said, 'this is nowhere close to over.'

Since the incident that afternoon, Charlie had managed to run into her another three times, and each time there was absolutely no sign on her face that the event in the Weasley living room had even happened. It had been a relief when he and Bill left to go pick up Fleur and Dominique from Mungos. However, once they returned he was right back to where he was before they left, staring at the ceiling while the anticipation for Oliver hummed through his body and the fear of Angelina clenched his lungs.

He knew she was going to strike, he just didn't know when… or how.

"Charlie! Can you help us in the kitchen?" The demon lady yelled from downstairs.

That little… Of course she would lure him into the kitchen. The kitchen had once been a somewhat hospitable place for the men of the house, sans for the slapping of hands when they attempted to eat food that wasn't ready. However now, with the addition of so much estrogen into the Weasley family it had become a place for the women to meet three times a day and gossip about any and everything. The idea that they needed any help from Charlie was laughable, as all men were generally shooed out by the women. There was no point in offering to help, because somehow they would inevitably mess things up and leave the women proclaiming, "oh I'll just do it myself."

So that was her angle. She must have told all of the other women what happened and they were bringing him over to their turf to wheedle him for more information. Well two could play that game. If there was one person who could resist the manipulations of women, it was a guy who spent his whole life being practically asexual and was now maybe- er- probably gay.

Charlie stood up with new confidence and marched down the stairs. He had the advantage now that he knew what her ploy was.

However, when Charlie stepped into the kitchen he was once again completely baffled. Ginny, Angelina, and Hermione were all zooming around the kitchen in a flurry of movement. Molly was moving faster than anybody and simultaneously shouting orders. When she saw him she immediately grabbed a box of potatoes and shoved it into his arms.

"Can you peel these sweetie? We're running behind schedule."

Charlie hesitantly walked over to the little space on the counter that was left, pull out his wand and began to magically peel the potatoes. Doing such menial work allowed him the chance to watch the women move around the kitchen. When his mother was within hearing distance of him he caught her attention and asked her, "How are we running behind schedule? It's barely six."

Molly stopped completely and put her hands on her hips. "Fleur and the baby just came home from the hospital. She should _not_ have to wait on her food. Not to mention Audrey has taken ill so I still have to make her some soup. However, if you'd like to go up there and tell that poor woman that you're depriving her of soup, be my guest."

Charlie blushed and lowered his head. "No Mum." He mumbled.

"And watch your wandwork!" Molly barked. "You just dropped a potato on the floor."

"Yes Charlie" Angelina whispered in his ear. "You have to be very careful with that wand. "

Charlie nearly jumped out of skin. _Where had she...? How had she...? What the hell did he do to deserve this?_ His ears burned as he continued feverishly waving his wand at the potatoes. He finished the box and wordlessly handed them over to a grinning Angelina.

The furor in the kitchen had begun to reach a lull. The majority of people had run out of jobs now, and were waiting on the food to heat up. The two exceptions were Ginny, who was in the other room setting the table, and Molly, who was working on Audrey's soup. Hermione and Angelina were leaning against the counter joking with one another about who had the worse boyfriend.

"Well I think we tie when it comes to them taking forever to admit they had feelings for us." Angelina said.

Hermione smiled. "True, but at least your boyfriend never had a vendetta against your cat."

Angelina smirked. "Ha! At least your boyfriend doesn't carry around open dungbombs in his back pocket, in public. He uses them so often, he doesn't even smell them anymore!"

"Ron never washes his socks!

"George's first love letter to me was made of worms!"

"Ron slept with a man for thirteen years!"

Angelina rolled her eyes. "Pish posh, don't you distort the truth missy. No one knew Pettigrew was a rat."

"Dears" Molly interrupted. "I'm sure there are many things wrong with my sons but they will never compare to some of the stunts my husband has pulled."

The three collapsed into giggles.

Charlie rolled his eyes, deciding now might be a good time to leave, but before he could begin to sidle out of the kitchen, Ginny returned from the dining room.

"What are we all laughing at?" She asked.

"Boyfriend troubles." Angelina answered.

Ginny giggled. "Oh don't even get me started on that. 'Trouble' is my boyfriend's middle name."

"Do you think it's just ingrained in them to drive us crazy?" Hermione asked.

"Oh I'm not so sure about that." Angelina continued. "What do you think Charlie?"

Charlie, who'd been sneakily making his way toward the door, froze. He gave a partial turn and attempted a very half-hearted answer. "I think you girls have a lot to talk about."

"No!" Hermione protested, rushing over and pulling Charlie back into the kitchen. "I think we need a man's opinion on this. Why do men drive women crazy?"

Ginny snorted. "Like Charlie would have a clue how to answer that."

Charlie's head snapped around so fast his neck cracked. "What?" He asked.

"Come now Charlie you've never once brought a girl home. I doubt he's ever gotten along with anyone long enough to be their boyfriend." Ginny continued.

Charlie bristled at the comment, trying to ignore the truth behind that statement. Once again he couldn't help but wonder if he was Oliver's boyfriend.

"Never?" Hermione asked. "Wow, and here we were complaining about your brothers. You must be the worst boyfriend ever." Hermione joked.

"Oh I doubt that." Angelina cut in smoothly, pushing off from the counter and studying her nails. "I think Charlie knows exactly what he's doing."

"Angelina." Charlie began warningly.

Ginny's eyes widened at his tone. "Oooh what do you know?" She asked Angelina.

Angelina smirked. "Let's just say I have a pretty good reason to believe Charlie is rather well liked-"

Molly let out a low grunt and the three immediately quieted. "Can you girls take the food into the kitchen?" She asked, gesturing toward the many many large plates of food that had accumulated on the counter.

The girls quickly left the room.

Charlie let out one short breath of relief, and then his mother was quirking her finger at him. He walked over to her, looking shamefaced.

She handed him a bowl of soup. "Can you take this up to Audrey? And tell everyone else that it's time for dinner?" She asked.

He nodded and turned to leave.

"Oh and Charlie?"

He froze and turned back to face his mother.

"There are some ways of living that may bring a young man fleeting moments of joy, but he must remember that true happiness comes from settling down with the right person, especially when a young man isn't so young himself anymore."

Her words left Charlie speechless, and beyond outraged. _Merlin he could kill Angelina!_ She had his mother thinking he was some sort of randy dog humping everything in sight! Fuming, he turned quickly, planning to make some large dramatic exit, and nearly ran over Percy doing so.

"Sorry Charlie." Percy said, steadying him and the bowl of soup.

"It's fine." He muttered darkly. _Would he ever leave this kitchen?_

"Percy, what are you doing down here?" Molly asked.

Percy began to answer in what promised to be a long bumbling incoherent sentence but Molly cut him off.

"How's Audrey doing?"

Percy let out a tired sigh and wiped his glasses on his shirt. "Not well mother she uh..." Charlie watched in amusement as Percy visibly shuddered and turned green. He took a large, very painful gulp and finally said, "...she's not feeling well."

Molly, too seemed to have noticed Percy's change in demeanor. "Poor dear. Do you think it's something serious? Should we call for a healer?"

"No we think it's just the flu." Percy said, still looking thoroughly uncomfortable, and a tad nauseous.

"You're not looking well yourself Percy, you should be careful. You don't want to catch what Audrey's come down with."

"Erm yes maybe someone else should take over for awhile."

Charlie worked very hard not to laugh at Percy. He didn't look well, but it wasn't because he was catching anything. Percy had always been very squeamish, especially around sick people. Everyone still remembered the time when they were little and Percy had vomited when he saw that Fred (or George?) had a nosebleed. Percy had gotten a lot better since then, but from the green around the gills look he was currently sporting, Charlie was sure whatever Audrey had was one for the record books.

Molly appeared to have realized that too when she heard Percy's response because she rolled her eyes and turned to her second eldest son. "Charlie, give Percy the soup to bring to Audrey. He can see if she's feeling up to having some while you go tell everyone it's time for dinner."

"Are you sure?" Percy cut in. "I can tell everyone it's time for dinner."

Charlie thrust the soup into Percy's hands. "You'll do great." He predicted with an evil smirk.

"I'm sure your fiancé wants you to be there for her Percy." Molly continued.

"Please don't make me go back up there." Percy whimpered.

Molly, who appeared to have lost her patience at this point, put her hands on her hips. "Percy Weasley. You do realize 'In sickness and in health' is one of the vows you will have to take when you marry her?" She asked.

"Well yes, but we're not married yet-"

"March!"

Percy rushed out the room and Charlie gave his mother a sideways glance. He decided to brave the possible tongue-lashing and spoke to her. "You seem very tense. Is something wrong?"

Molly sighed and gave him a tired smile. "It's nothing dear, I just want Fleur and the baby to eat right away." She turned away from him and began reorganizing the cutlery. She bit her lip. "I'm sorry I've been short with you." She said after awhile. "I just don't like this. Audrey becoming ill the second Fleur is better." She shook her head.

Charlie smiled and put his arms around his mother. "She's going to be fine Mum, it's just the flu. This is nothing like what happened with Fleur."

Molly smiled and patted her son lightly on the cheek. "I know dear." She continued. "And I know I was a bit harsh with Percy, but he'll understand one day." She turned completely and smiled up at her son. "And you will too," she added. "once you find the right person."

"Understand what?" Charlie asked.

Molly chuckled. "Being there for the one you love during their greatest moment of weakness. It's so humbling and so rewarding."

Charlie tried to imagine himself rubbing Oliver's back while he threw up and shuddered. He shook away the thought quickly. His mother was beyond strange sometimes. "I don't think so." He said. "I really don't see the reward there."

Molly just smiled and turned back to the cutlery.

* * *

Charlie had no desire to have any more awkward relationship talks with any past, present, or future Weasley women, so after some maneuvering he managed to wedge himself between George and Bill at the dinner table. He held on to the false hope that they would form a testosterone buffer for him. However, that also meant Angelina was just one seat over from him, and he knew it would be a lot more difficult to hide from her.

The table was full once again though not quite as full as usual what with the absence of Percy and Audrey, but Teddy and Andromeda had once again come for dinner.

Charlie watched with interest as Andromeda attempted to help Teddy with his food, but he swatted her away. When she began to get upset, Harry intervened, calmly telling her that Teddy could handle his peas on his own. Charlie could understand, at four years old Teddy was probably already tired of his grandmother's constant coddling. Though he couldn't help but notice that Harry was sneaking glances at Teddy out of the corner of his eye, and looking prepared to mop of the mess if Teddy spilled anything. He smiled at the scene.

His mother suddenly tapped Andromeda on the shoulder and their conversation quickly changed to Percy and Audrey's inevitable marriage.

"I've spoken to Audrey about how we need to start planning now or it'll never get done." Molly was saying.

Andromeda was nodding encouragingly as Molly spoke.

"But you know she's so busy with work, so I've had to plan for her."

Charlie's brow furrowed as he listened to their conversation. He hadn't heard anything from Percy or Audrey about a wedding since they'd gotten engaged. He turned to Bill. "Have they set a date?" He asked.

Bill took a minute to figure out who Charlie was talking about, but when he caught a snippet of his mother's conversation he rolled his eyes. "No, Audrey hasn't found a good time to take off work."

"Figures." Charlie replied. "I'm guessing she doesn't know anything about the plans Mum's been making."

Bill smiled. "She's definitely in for a rude surprise."

Charlie was unsure if Bill was referring to his mother or Audrey. His mother and Andromeda's conversation once again caught his interest and he turned back to them.

"It would be so nice to have another son married off. It's only a matter of time for most of them." Molly bargained.

Andromeda's eyebrows rose as she looked around the table. "They are right paired off aren't they?" She asked. Her eyes locked onto Charlie. "Except for Charlie it seems. Or does he have a girl back home?" She asked.

Molly sighed and rolled her eyes. "I wish. I'm starting to wonder about that boy. In thirty years he's never had a girlfriend, or at least that we've known about, and from what Angelina tells me he's hanging about with loose women."

"Angelina did not say that!"

The entire dinner table froze and everyone turned to look at Charlie who couldn't seem to figure out how he'd wound up shouting at his mother. He blushed and sunk into his chair. "M'sorry." He mumbled.

Andromeda and Molly were staring at him slack-jawed.

Ginny finally broke the silence. "And what in the hell was that?"

Molly appeared to shake herself out of her stupor and chided her youngest daughter. She then answered her question. "I was just telling Andromeda about what Angelina was saying in the kitchen about Charlie, but he seems to disagree."

Charlie's was too embarrassed to let out any sort of sensible protest.

"I was not lying!" Angelina protested hotly. "I saw Charlie stumble out the fireplace today looking like he ran a marathon! A very good marathon at that!" She added and winked at George.

Charlie was too outraged to form a complete sentence. "It's not... She's not... You're conflating the... Merlin!" He sunk back into his chair.

Molly looked confused too. "I thought you were hanging out with Oliver today."

Charlie groaned an placed his palms over his eyes. "I was I-" He stopped, unable to betray Oliver's secret to his family.

"Oh you're talking about the double date." Bill cut in, and the entire family turned to look at him. "Yeah Charlie told me about it yesterday. I'm sure he was just embarrassed." He continued.

"A double date at your age?" George asked, and then snorted loudly.

"Wow Angelina. You had us thinking he was running around with a bunch of tarts." Ginny laughed.

"I never said-" Angelina began, though she was looking at Charlie interestedly.

"I'm guessing it went well?" Hermione asked from across the table.

Everyone turned to Charlie, waiting for an answer.

He continued to cover his face. "This is not happening." He mumbled into his hands.

"Is she pretty?"

"Are you going to see her again?"

"Do you love her?"

"Look he's turning red!"

Charlie's face was burning. It might not have been noticeable had it not been for the fact that the hands in front of his face were also burning. _What had he done to deserve this?_

"Alright leave him alone." Arthur finally cut in. "I think he's been embarrassed enough for one day."

The family immediately stopped and after a couple seconds of silence they dispersed into their own conversations. Only then did Charlie feel safe enough to uncover his face.

He ate the rest of his dinner in silence, trying to ignore the claps on the back Bill kept giving him.

* * *

After dinner Charlie found himself being pulled aside by Angelina. She shuffled her feet and bit her lip before speaking. "Charlie I'm sorry. I didn't mean for your mother to think... _that_. I was just messing around."

"It's fine." He said, waving his hand at her.

She gave him a funny sort of smile. "I just want you to know I'm really happy for you and I'm glad you're going after what you want." She lightly pinched his cheek and then her eyes locked on something over his shoulder. "Shit, it's your mother. I better go before she chews me out." She said, then immediately turned and fled.

Charlie watched her go, feeling slightly bewildered. He hadn't realized his family had been so concerned about his dating life. He heard his mother approach and turned around. "Hi Mum." He greeted.

Molly smiled at her son and pulled him into a warm hug.

Charlie felt flustered at first but then relaxed into it. He'd forgotten how wonderful his mother's hugs felt.

Molly rubbed his back and whispered softly in his ear. "I know you don't like me to meddle in your relationships..." She pulled back slightly and looked into his eyes. "...but I want you to know I'll be right here when you're ready to talk."

Charlie stared at his mother, looking for the inquisitiveness she was known for, but what he found instead was unwavering pride and love reflected in her eyes. He gave her a soft kiss on the top of the head and smiled against her skin. "Ok."

* * *

A/N again: So what with the questionable state of my laptop and the fact that I am moving into my apartment next week, I'm going to err on the side of caution and say the next chapter will be out on or before **August 23, 2012**. So be on the lookout for that and feel free to leave a review if the mood strikes you.


	9. The Tale of the Niffler

**_Choices_**

_Chapter 9: The Tale of the Niffler_

Charlie received a letter from Oliver the day after their first date, proposing a second. It took him almost three hours to write a witty reply, and two days later he was standing in front of the mirror trying to remember how to tie a tie.

"It's called a spell, short stack."

Charlie glared at his mirror between the two flaps of his tie. "I'm not putting my wand anywhere near my neck. And I'm 5'9"!"

"Ah I forgot about the neck thing." The mirror commented.

Charlie scoffed and threw his tie down. "It is not a neck thing! What person can perform a spell accurately when his wand arm is contorted? That'll take your head off!"

"So is that why you became a dragon tamer?"

Charlie groaned and leant against the sink. "We've already made out, why am I so nervous?"

"Maybe you're expecting more?" The mirror responded.

Charlie blushed, unable to ignore the truth behind that. For the last couple nights he'd woken up in a cold sweat, plagued by thoughts of unbelievably hot, sweaty nights with Oliver. Since that date he'd had flashbacks to his 4th year. He remembered vividly the day Alistair Backer had told him that men could have sex, and how frequently the thought popped into his head after that conversation. Looking back on it, it should have been obvious to him then that he was gay.

Charlie willed himself to move away from those thoughts and shook his head. "Maybe, but it's too soon right?"

"What's too soon?"

Charlie jumped and spun around. "Bill?" He asked.

Bill smiled and leisurely leaned against the doorway. "Ta da!" He joked. "Mate, can you do me a favor and hang onto my wand? Fleur and the baby are going in for a final checkup and I'm not allowed to have my wand on me."

"Sure." Charlie responded. "Help me with this tie?"

Bill rolled his eyes and grabbed Charlie's tie. "How do you go thirty years without knowing how to do up a tie?"

"I'm a dragon tamer." Charlie whined. "How many fancy dinners do you think I go to?"

"Speaking of which-" Bill responded, tightening the tie in a way too loose knot. "-what fancy dinner are you going to?"

Charlie blushed. "Nowhere."

Bill smirked and twisted Charlie's tie. "Right. So when are we going to meet this girl?"

"Don't know what you're talking about." Charlie responded nonchalantly.

Bill let out a agitated grunt and scratched his head. "Alright, give me my wand so I can tie this." He ordered.

Charlie snorted. "What happened to 'at thirty you should know how to do up a tie'?" He questioned.

"It's different when you're doing this on someone else." Bill retorted childishly. "Now give me my wand." He begged.

"No." Charlie replied. "You are not pointing that at my neck."

"Not the neck thing again-"

"It is not a neck thing!" Charlie shouted.

Bill went to respond then frustratingly threw down the tie. "Come on, let's go find Fleur." He muttered pulling Charlie out the room.

* * *

A month ago Charlie never would have thought he would have to beg a woman in a wheelchair to do up a tie for his second date with a man at a fancy restaurant. Then again a month ago Charlie couldn't see himself dating anyone really. However as he stood in front of the Silver Thestral he realized how outside of his element he really was. Oliver never struck him as the type to enjoy this sort of place, and he hadn't been to a luxurious restaurant since his family's trip to Egypt several years ago. His thoughts were put on hold when he saw Oliver walking toward him.

Charlie was quite sure he'd never seen anything as sexy as Oliver standing directly in front of him in a full piece suit. His broad chest and muscular thighs were complimented perfectly by the black satin sleeves lying against his smooth wrists. But for Charlie the best part of Oliver's outfit was the Quaffle cufflinks he wore. Even standing before him in a suit Oliver was completely and utterly himself.

Oliver blushed under Charlie's deep gaze and brought his hand up to the back of his head. "I figured since our first date wasn't much of a date we'd go somewhere really nice to make up for it."

Charlie smiled and reached for Oliver's hand, pulling it away from his hair before he messed it up. "Anywhere we go is fine." He assured.

Oliver smiled sweetly back, and squeezed Charlie's hand lightly before letting go. "Come on let's go inside." He suggested.

Charlie allowed himself to be ushered through the doors and into a very comfortable booth.

Oliver sat across from him and smiled mischievously. "It may have escaped your notice but I'm trying pretty hard to impress you Charlie Weasley." He joked.

"I noticed." Charlie replied.

"Is it working?" Oliver asked.

"Well not having to wait for a table definitely earned you some points, but I'm choosing to remain impartial until I see a chocolate fountain." Charlie quipped.

"A chocolate guy huh?" Oliver joked. "How about we order some chocolate covered strawberries?"

"No, it's chocolate fountain or nothing."

Oliver laughed and leaned forward. "I think you may be flirting with me Charlie Weasley."

Charlie pushed down the urge to blush and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I am." He replied in the most seductive voice he could muster up.

Oliver leaned forward.

"Are you ready to order drinks?"

Both jumped and pulled away.

An extremely friendly looking waiter stood in front of them. Both humbly ordered drinks and stayed quiet until he returned with their drinks and they gave him their food orders.

Charlie kept trying think of ways to restart the conversation, but it was Oliver who finally broke the silence. "Sorry about that I just-"

"Yeah." Charlie responded, remembering Oliver's rule. A nagging thought had come into his head and now he was unable to keep it in anymore. "I'm not the first person you've told about this am I?" he asked.

"About? Being gay?" Oliver asked, sipping his wine.

Charlie nodded back.

The waiter reappeared with the food and they once again lapsed into silence.

"Fast service huh?" Charlie joked.

"Magic." Oliver responded, his tone of voice clearly showing that his mind was somewhere else.

They lapsed into silence again. Charlie felt really helpless. The waiter's constant interruptions were definitely keeping them from doing anything even as simple as holding hands, so he had no idea how to show Oliver support without showing the whole restaurant a bit too much.

Both took several bites of their food before Oliver finally restarted the conversation. "A few other people know."

Charlie smiled and relaxed, setting down his fork. "Good, I hoped you had someone to talk to before me."

"What's there to talk about?" Oliver asked. "It's just who I am."

"True." Charlie replied. "But you were only a teenager, and it was probably a lot more confusing for you then, than it is for me now."

"What's with that?" Oliver asked. "You've been remarkably calm for someone who discovered he was gay at thirty years old."

"Calm?" Charlie snorted. "I got drunk and kissed you, babbled my way through our first date, and when you first came to see me I panicked in the bathroom for several minutes."

Oliver waved his hand. "That's you usual date stuff. Where's the drama?"

Charlie smirked. "I guess I'm a go with the flow kind of guy."

Oliver laughed. "Well you did move Romania when you were 17 without having to think twice about it."

Charlie shrugged. "What was there to to think about?" He asked.

Oliver laughed and shifted the food on his plate, before continuing. "I like this on you." He said.

Charlie's forehead wrinkled in confusion and he raised an eyebrow. "What? My tie?" He asked.

Oliver snorted. "No, this confidence. I'll admit that nervous act you pulled on our first date really helped me get over the intimidation I felt toward you-"

"You were intimidated by me?" Charlie questioned.

Oliver nodded. "Yeah, you were my Quidditch captain and a Hogwarts legend. You were way older than me-"

"Not that old-"

"Right, you were way older than everybody."

Charlie rolled his eyes.

"But the point is…" Oliver continued. "…I like when you act all confident. It's cute."

Charlie's masculine outrage at being called 'cute' was the only thing that kept him from swooning at Oliver's words. His face split into a wide grin which quickly was replaced by a smirk. "So you liked me at Hogwarts." He commented playfully.

Oliver choked on his water. "I never said that." He backtracked. "I mean you were attractive and all but aren't crushes a bit girly?"

"Yes they are." Charlie agreed. "Which is why it's all the more interesting that you had one on me."

Oliver was saved from responding when the bill suddenly appeared on the table. He did his best to subtly change the subject. "So how about we head over to Niffler Park and just walk around?" He asked.

"Sounds like a plan." Charlie replied, reaching for the bill.

Oliver snatched it up first. "I asked you out so I'm paying."

Charlie smirked. "Feeling a little less masculine after revealing your secret crush?" He asked.

Oliver glared at him over the top of the bill and shook his head. "You are so lucky you're hot." He muttered.

* * *

Niffler park was easily the most beautiful park Charlie had ever been to. The park was rich with healthy green trees, and between those trees were beautiful sparkling balls of light floating high above their heads. When Charlie was young, he used to come there every summer.

Charlie smiled up at the splendorous sight. "Those lights are so beautiful." He whispered.

Oliver laughed quietly and smiled at him. "You know what they are right?" He asked.

Charlie shook his head.

"Well-" Oliver began. "Years ago this was just a regular park. It was even a little dull, and no one could think of a way to spruce this place up. Then the park had a niffler infestation. They came and started digging up the park. The park owner didn't have the heart to get rid of them, so they stuck around for several months. Now you know how nifflers love shiny things right?" He asked.

Charlie nodded.

"Well, they build their nests underground out of things that shine. Galleons, sickles, treasures and such. Then they began to have their babies. For awhile there were little nifflers all over the park. Kids could play with them, and nearly anyone who came there had their galleons stolen. Then one day the nifflers left."

Charlie's eyes widened. "Why?" He asked.

"Nifflers are migratory creatures. Once their babies are old enough to make the trip they move on to their next home. What's most amazing is they leave all of their trinkets behind. They move to another place and start from scratch." Oliver smiled softly. "They're very noble creatures."

They had come to a small secluded spot, where the park was slightly darker because the glowing treasures were spread out more. They sat down on a small bench.

"So-" Charlie began. "How did the lights come about?" He asked.

"Well…" Oliver continued. "…the park owner was a great man. He could have kept the treasures the nifflers left for himself but he loved this park. Instead he incased each treasure in a ball of sparkling light, and let them float throughout the park to help you find your way."

"That's really incredible." Charlie commented. "I've been here so many times and I never once knew about that story. Thank you for that."

"Thank you for coming here with me." Oliver replied genuinely.

They sat on that bench for hours, taking turns telling one another stories about themselves, their lives, and their dreams, until it was too cold for them to feel their noses anymore.

* * *

"I had a great time."

Charlie let out a low laugh and gave Oliver a long kiss. They were standing on Charlie's porch trying to say goodbye, and it was the fourth time Oliver had said that.

"I mean it." Oliver whined when he pulled away.

"I know." Charlie replied, pulling him in for a kiss.

"I should go." Oliver said unconvincingly.

"Or you could come inside." Charlie replied. He didn't want Oliver to go. He wanted to stay wrapped up in him forever.

"I shouldn't." Oliver murmured wistfully. "I won't trust myself to remain a gentleman if I go in there."

"Then don't." Charlie coerced, tugging Oliver inside.

Oliver bit his lip and shook his head. "I really should head home." He whispered seriously.

Charlie tried his hardest not to cry out in frustration and nodded. Despite how desperately he wanted to be with Oliver tonight he knew it was ultimately Oliver's decision. He pulled Oliver into one last perfect kiss and sighed. "Alright, you're free to go." He replied, unable to shake the déjà vu from their first date.

Oliver turned away and Charlie closed the door, continuing to watch Oliver through the peephole. He looked spectacular even from the back. Then, just as Oliver got to the end of the walkway an unusual phenomenon occurred. Oliver turned back toward Charlie's house. He took a few steps forward then shook his head and turned around again. He only made it three more steps before he stamped his foot and turned around yet again. He stood there for a full minute, arms crossed, and then made his way quickly back to the Burrow.

Charlie opened the door just as Oliver went to knock. "Changed your mind?" He asked.

Oliver opened his mouth and Charlie interrupted him. "It's fine, just don't mess up the tie. You wouldn't believe the ordeal I went through to get it just right."

"Oh I'll make sure that tie is a complete mess." Oliver swore, throwing himself into Charlie's arms and kissing him like his life depended on it.

Charlie giggled and pulled Oliver close, tugging him upstairs and tripping over his own feet, in between kisses until they finally made it to the top, and he pulled Oliver into his room.

* * *

A/N: I finally got my laptop back! And it is working like a charm. So I'm going to estimate that the next chapter will be out sometime **around September 30**. Until the next chapter!


	10. The Morning After Sort Of

_**Choices**_

_Chapter 10: The Morning After... Sort Of_

When Charlie was young he used to wonder how he'd feel the morning after he first had sex. He'd heard many different stories of the morning after. Some had been awkward, some unbelievably sappy, and some just as passionate as the night before. Charlie used to believe that his morning after would be as awkward as they came. However, as time went on he began to wonder if it would ever happen for him. The day after his second date with Oliver, as he watched Oliver wiggle into his trousers, that thought once again came back to haunt him.

Charlie lay back against his pillows, too tired to sit up, watching Oliver get dressed through heavy-lidded eyes. It was no surprise he was tired. It was four in the morning, and he'd been poked awake by Oliver.

"I have practice." Oliver had mumbled softly into his hair.

Charlie had groaned and stubbornly tightened his arms around Oliver's body, until Oliver poked him enough times that he had grudgingly relented.

He glared at Oliver's back. He'd trained himself to be a morning person, but it had been awhile since he'd had to do a 6 am shift cleaning out dragon pens.

Oliver turned around as he buttoned up his shirt and winked at Charlie.

Charlie threw a pillow at his head.

Oliver dodged it easily. Bloody Quidditch players and their reflexes. "Don't pout." Oliver opined. "We can continue this when I get off practice tonight." He leaned down and kissed Charlie gently. "When you get some lube."

Charlie pushed Oliver away and blushed furiously. "Shut it." He muttered.

Oliver snorted. "Oh come on, it's funny."

Charlie ignored Oliver's chiding as his mind went back to last night.

* * *

He remembered Oliver's hands running over him, their clothes flying all over the room, Oliver sucking at his neck like a madman, him being this close to tugging off Oliver's pants, his last offending article of clothing, when Oliver had grabbed his wrist.

"Do you have lube?" He'd whispered huskily.

Charlie's lust-filled eyes were temporarily clouded over with confusion. He shook his head.

Oliver had rolled his eyes and shoved his hands down Charlie's pants, bringing him off in less than a minute. The next five minutes were heaven for Charlie. He felt his way over Oliver's body, memorizing his pleasure points, teasing him until he couldn't see straight. They'd collapsed with Oliver on top of him, breathing heavily. He'd run his fingers through Oliver's hair and they'd fallen into a comfortable silence. Having noticed that Oliver was about to fall asleep, Charlie finally asked the question that had been plaguing him since Oliver brought him off.

"Hey Ollie?" He asked.

"Mm?" Oliver mumbled into his skin.

"Why were you asking me about lube?"

He was answered with the longest silence he'd ever experienced. Right as he began to wonder if Oliver had fallen asleep, Oliver burst into hysterical laughter.

* * *

Hearing that laughter again brought him out of his memories and back to the Quidditch player in front of him. Oliver was lying on the floor nearly choking with laughter. "I mean..." He spluttered in between hiccups. "Did you think… we just… shove it in?"

Charlie's cheeks turned pink and he sat up and crossed his arms. "Don't you have Quidditch practice to go to?" He questioned.

Oliver finally controlled his breathing and suppressed a series of hiccups. "Sorry love." He cooed. "Don't be upset."

Despite his humiliation Charlie couldn't help but feel a tingle spread through his body hearing Oliver's pet name.

It took Oliver three attempts before Charlie let him kiss him again. "Walk me down?" He requested.

Charlie rolled his eyes and got out of bed, pulling on his trousers from last night.

"You should probably walk ahead of me." Oliver advised. "It's unlikely your family's up but if anyone is…"

Charlie smiled and impulsively grabbed Oliver's hand, interlacing their fingers. He pushed open the door and looked out, listening intently for small noises only members of his family recognized as the noises of relatives moving about the house. Satisfied, he pulled Oliver out of his room and down the stairs. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, listened again and pulled Oliver into the living room, then out the door.

The cool morning air cut against Charlie's bare chest and he crossed his arms and shivered. Oliver laughed and wrapped his arms around Charlie's shivering form.

Charlie groaned at the mollycoddling then relaxed, smiling into Oliver's hair. They stood like that for several minutes. Charlie was actually beginning to feel warmer and sleepy. He leaned into Oliver more and kissed the side of his neck.

"Charlie?" Oliver asked.

"Hm?" Charlie mumbled into Oliver's neck.

"Your nipples are really hard."

Charlie groaned and pulled away. "Alright, you've ruined the mood, you can go now."

Oliver smirked. "Ruined the mood have I?" He asked.

"Yes." Charlie announced, crossing his arms once again.

Oliver moved forward and let his forehead rest against Charlie's. "Really?" He asked, voice low.

Charlie swallowed and tried to ignore his spiking arousal. "Yes?" His voice broke shamefully at those words.

Oliver's expression went from devious to pure evil. "I don't think I have." He insisted, lips hovering over Charlie's.

Charlie sucked in a breath and closed his eyes.

Oliver's mouth was on him in less than a minute.

Charlie groaned under the deliciously brutal assault of Oliver's mouth and hands. OIiver pushed him roughly against the door and licked a stripe along Charlie's neck. Charlie moaned and pulled Oliver closer, nudging Oliver's mouth against his own. Oliver kissed him once, twice, three times and then pulled away.

Charlie fisted his hands in Oliver's shirt. "Don't tease." He whispered, pulling Oliver back toward him.

"I really have to go." The Scottish man reminded him.

Charlie let out a huge groan of frustration and leaned his head against Oliver's shirt. "You are killing me Oliver." He whined.

Oliver gently kissed him. "Sorry love. He uttered. "But if I don't leave now I won't. You have no idea what you do to me."

Charlie reluctantly pulled away and sighed. "I think I have a pretty good idea." He rubbed his face vigorously, hoping that would somehow make his flush disappear.

Oliver kissed him one last time and stepped back. "Are you coming by tonight?" He asked.

"Course."

"Good. How's seven?" He asked.

"Perfect." Charlie replied.

Oliver checked his watch, did a double take, swiftly kissed Charlie and dissaparated.

Charlie leaned against the door, smiling at the spot where Oliver disappeared until the cold forced him to go inside.

* * *

There couldn't be anything more embarrassing, Charlie realized, than standing in the sexual health section of a Muggle drug store trying to pick out lubricant. He'd considered going to the apothecary near his house, but he definitely didn't feel like buying lubricant from a man who'd known him since he was a kid. He was even gladder he decided to walk for thirty minutes into Muggle London instead since it was becoming abundantly clear he had no idea what he was doing. Half the lubricants said "female" on them. He wondered if besides the bright pinks and purples of those lubes versus. the blacks and greens of the other lubes if there was really a difference between the two. He picked up a white bottle and began to read the back.

"Can I help you with anything?"

Charlie jumped out of his skin and dropped the bottle. He quickly picked it up and turned to the man standing in front of him. The bloke looked like he was barely 21, unbelievably thin, with dark black curls and freckles. His nametag said "Hi, my name is Paul".

Paul smiled and continued talking when Charlie didn't answer him. "I can help you with all your customer needs." He replied cheerily, winking at Charlie.

Oh Merlin he was gay. This couldn't possibly get any worse. "I may need some help." He mumbled, unable to stop the flush that crept up his neck.

Paul eyed the item in Charlie's hand. "Ah." He acknowledged. "Well that is important isn't it?" He winked again.

Charlie's cheeks flamed.

Paul took the lube out of Charlie's hand and shook his head. "You don't want this one." He advised, putting it back. He looked at various lubes, mumbling quietly to himself, picked up a bottle, took an embarrassingly long glance at Charlie's arse, shook his head and put it back.

Finally he pulled a black bottle off the shelf and handed it to Charlie. "Use this one. It has a high boiling point and it's not sticky."

Charlie held the bottle tightly in his grasped hand and looked at the floor. "Thanks." He mumbled, blushing furiously.

"You need help with anything else?" Paul asked. "Condoms or anything?"

Charlie shook his head quickly. "I have erm… we…" He began with no idea how he was planning to finish that sentence. He, like every other wizard on this planet, knew a protection spell that rendered Muggle condoms virtually useless.

"No problem." Paul continued. "I can ring you up if you're ready."

Charlie followed Paul to the register and placed the lube on the counter. Another customer walked into the store and he quickly fumbled under the counter for a chocolate bar, placing it on top of his incriminating item.

"Nothing to be ashamed of sweetie." Paul muttered from behind the counter. He rang up the lubricant and deposited it into a bag, then held the candy bar and eyed Charlie. "Do you want this?" He asked.

Acknowledging that he'd been caught, Charlie shook his head no.

Paul smiled and placed the candy behind the counter.

Charlie quickly paid for his purchase with some of the Muggle money his dad always advised him to carry around.

Paul handed him his bag and his change. "Have a nice day!" He said loudly.

As Charlie took the bag Paul leaned closer and whispered. "Good luck."

Charlie's face flamed and he hurried out the store, swearing to himself he'd never come back again.

* * *

Charlie spent the rest of the day unable to concentrate on anything but the clock. At five-thirty he locked himself in the bathroom to prepare for tonight and at six-fifteen when the shower was still running, his entire family was openly worrying about him.

"I called his name four times before he even acknowledged I was there." Ginny was saying to Hermione, as they sat in the living room with George, Harry, and Ron. "Then I asked him what he was thinking about and he said "yes". He's not himself and I'm worried."

Hermione nodded encouragingly. "How long has he been in the shower anyway?" She asked.

George snorted.

Ginny rolled her eyes at George's blatant innuendo. "He's nervous about something." She deduced.

They all quieted as they heard the shower turn off.

"Well at least he didn't drown himself." Ron replied.

Thirty minutes later Charlie shot through the living room like a hurricane and tripped over George's feet.

Ron caught him before he fell and raised an eyebrow. "Nice shirt." He complimented, looking thoroughly surprised. Charlie was wearing another dress shirt similar to the one he wore the night before, but this one didn't seem to require a tie, and a pair of slacks. The entire family had watched in shock as he'd left the night before in a suit they didn't even know he owned, and now here he was in yet another stylish outfit.

"Yeah thanks." Charlie replied distractedly, playing with the sleeves of his shirt.

"Are you going somewhere?" Ginny asked.

Charlie made a noncommittal sound and checked his watch again.

George snorted.

Hermione looked thoroughly concerned now. "Charlie, are you feeling alright?"

Charlie actually seemed to have heard her for once. He shocked his siblings by giving her an illuminating smile. "I'm brilliant." He responded genuinely. He looked at his watch. "I should go, it's almost seven."

His siblings stared after him at he literally skipped out the door. As the door closed he yelled over his shoulder. "Tell Mum not to wait up!"

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and George stared slack-jawed at the front door.

It was Ron who finally broke the shocked silence. "He's going to get a leg over!"

Hermione looked extremely disturbed. "Ron! Don't joke like that! It's in poor taste." She chided.

George was still staring out the window, a small smile on his face. "Oh it's definitely not a _joke_." He emphasized.

* * *

A/N: Well sorry for the long wait, I'm still recovering from midterms. I'd estimate that the next chapter will be out around **10/7/12**.


	11. A Night In

**_Choices_**

_Chapter 11: A Night In_

A/N: The rating for this story has been changed from T to M due to the sexual content in this chapter.

* * *

Charlie was humming with excitement as he bounded up the stairs to Oliver's flat. The lubricant he'd shrunk to the size of a thimble was burning a hole in his back pocket. Never in his life had he been more excited than at this moment. He clicked his heels when he reached the top of the stairs and ran down the hall toward Oliver's room. He stopped outside of Oliver's door, and took a minute to compose himself. Once he'd managed to quell the shit-eating grin on his face he knocked. A giggle bubbled in his throat and he swallowed it painfully when the door swung open.

Oliver stood in the doorway, dressed in a blue button-down shirt and a pair of tight black trousers. Perhaps it was the built up sexual energy, but he looked absolutely edible.

Oliver bit his lip and leaned against the doorjamb. "Hey." He grinned.

Charlie flushed. "Hey." He replied.

Oliver moved to stand up and tripped, slamming hard against the doorjamb. "Bloody…" He mumbled.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked, moving forward.

"Course." Oliver answered a little too quickly. He pushed himself up and cleared his throat. "Come in." He urged, placing his hand on the small of Charlie's back.

Charlie stepped inside, close enough to Oliver that he could smell his cologne, and the minty smell underneath it that was most likely his soap. He closed his eyes, and breathed in.

"I made some risotto if you're hungry." Oliver informed him as they walked through the living room.

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "This is the second time you've cooked for me you know? Where did you learn to cook?" He asked.

"It just comes with being gay." Oliver joked.

Charlie gave him a look and Oliver held up his hands.

"Fine." He conceded. "My sister taught me the basics and when your job requires you to travel all over the world you pick up a few things."

"Hm." Charlie responded. "Well I should let you know I know how to cook myself."

Oliver laughed and leaned closer so that his forehead was nearly touching Charlie's. "Well maybe you can cook for me sometime."

Charlie's vision blurred and he took in a shaky breath. The urge to reach out and touch Oliver was overpowering him. Right when he decided to lean in for a kiss Oliver pulled away. He seemed to shake himself and took a few steps back.

"Risotto right." He mumbled distractedly. "You want risotto." He rushed into the kitchen, leaving Charlie staring at the air in front him in confusion.

After he took a minute to collect himself Charlie followed. The last time he'd been inside Oliver's flat he hadn't been inside the kitchen. The walls were a pleasing shade of yellow. Oliver was leaning over the granite countertop, pulling wine glasses out of a wooden cabinet above his head. Charlie noticed there was another doorway leading out of the kitchen into a small dining room. The table was set for two.

Oliver turned toward him and handed him a glass and picked up a bowl of risotto and a bottle of wine. Charlie followed him into the dining room. He sat down, surprised Oliver had sat them at opposite ends of the table. Oliver put down the risotto and picked up the wine, pouring it into Charlie's glass then his own. Charlie couldn't help but notice that his hand was shaking.

"Thanks." Charlie said as Oliver sat down.

"Sure." Oliver responded in a slightly strangled voice. He waved his wand and the bowl of risotto flew over to Charlie's side, scooping itself onto his plate, then it returned to Oliver's side and did the same.

Charlie smiled at his food and tried to catch Oliver's eye, but he quickly became aware that Oliver was determinately not looking at him. The silence between them began to stretch out and Charlie was starting to worry. "How's Quidditch?" He asked. He took a small bite of the risotto.

"Mmm fine." Oliver mumbled distractedly.

Now Charlie was really concerned. He could pretend to ignore Oliver's clumsiness, the shaking hands, the fact that he was clearly avoiding extended physical contact with Charlie, and even his inability to maintain eye contact, but he could not remember one occasion when he'd asked Oliver about Quidditch and hadn't gotten a monologue for a response. "Alright." Charlie said, setting his fork down. "What's wrong?"

Oliver's ears turned red and he mumbled something, shaking his head.

Charlie sighed. "Oliver?" He asked.

Oliver flushed slightly and cleared his throat. He attempted to start his sentence several times, then appeared to give up and jumped in. "Can I be frank with you?" He asked.

"Course." Charlie responded, wishing they were closer so he could reach for Oliver's hand.

"When we talked this morning about tonight we said some things that have made me a bit unclear about what this night is about." Oliver forced himself to say, looking thoroughly uncomfortable.

Charlie frowned. "What this night is about?" he asked.

Oliver groaned and closed his eyes. "What I mean is I'm not sure of your… well our… intentions. I mean I'm sure of my intentions as far as not pressuring you into anything. Those are my intentions. I just know we say things in the heat of the moment and sometimes they change when you've got a clearer head." He blanched. "Not that I'm saying you don't have a clear head! Just that I'm a bit uncertain about the night and I'm fine just having a night in, I'd just like to know so I can try and suppress this urge to jump across the table and…"

Charlie let out a small snort at the ludicrous turn this night had taken. He smiled softly at Oliver and interrupted him before he made himself even more uncomfortable. "Maybe it's time I made myself clear then." He said. He pulled the small tube out of his pocket, waved his wand so it expanded to its normal size and placed it on the table in front of them.

Oliver looked from Charlie to the tube of lubricant on the table and back to Charlie. In an instant he was on his feet, across the table and in Charlie's lap, kissing him hard. Charlie grasped Oliver's hair with one hand, and slid his left along Oliver's thigh. The kisses were fast, furious, and passionate. He groaned and widened his legs, giving his crotch breathing room as Charlie tasted every corner of his mouth. Oliver's mouth roved his neck and then just for the briefest moment his tongue slipped into Charlie's ear. Bloody hell. Charlie gasped at the contact and Oliver's thigh twitched under his hand. He let out a long moan, his pants were becoming unbelievably tight. With incredible effort he pulled back and tapped Oliver lightly on the wrist, as he was still tonguing Charlie's neck.

Oliver pulled back, and stared into Charlie's eyes. His eyes were dark, his face flushed, breathing heavily. It was clear Oliver wanted him, and Charlie wanted him back. "We should…" Charlie stopped, surprised at how husky his voice sounded.

Oliver let out a soft whimper and pressed his forehead against Charlie's, closing his eyes.

Charlie tried again. "We should probably move to a bed."

Oliver's eyes snapped open. He studied Charlie for a minute, taking in his expression, his obvious arousal and his heavy breathing. "Are you sure?" He asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah." He whispered. "I want you."

It was all Oliver needed. He tugged Charlie up out of the chair and they made a surprisingly quick move from the dining room to Oliver's bedroom, considering the state of their pants. Oliver tugged Charlie into his room, slamming the door and pushed Charlie toward the bed.

Charlie tripped over the footboard, and feeling himself falling, grabbed Oliver by his shirt and pulled him down with him. They landed ungracefully on Oliver's sheets, connected at the mouth at the torso, at the hips. Charlie wanted to be connected everywhere. He attempted to work the buttons of Oliver's shirt, but his hands were violently shaking.

Oliver gently placed his hands on top of Charlie's and pushed them down. "Let me do this." He whispered. He tugged the shirt over his head without bothering with the buttons, messing up his hair and kissed Charlie again, in a far gentler manner.

Charlie watched in amazement as Oliver undressed, stripping himself of each layer of clothes, revealing more and more beautiful tanned skin. He closed his eyes briefly when Oliver pulled down his underwear and slowly reopened them. He took Oliver in. He was more beautiful than Charlie could ever imagine. His eyes traveled down Oliver's neck to his torso, past his nipples, down to his well-defined abdomen, to his hips, to the sizable flesh between his legs, they paused there before moving on to his upper thighs, which were easily the most muscular part of his body and down to his bony and long feet. His eyes involuntarily flicked back to Oliver's penis.

Oliver placed a gentle hand under Charlie's chin and lifted his head until they were eye to eye. He kissed Charlie gently on each cheek, then his forehead, his nose, and left a gentle butterfly kiss on his lips. He smiled and leant his head on Charlie's shoulder. "I'm up here you know" he joked.

Charlie shook his head and let out a low chuckle. "I have to disagree. I think you are most definitely _up_ down there too."

Oliver laughed. He leaned in and kissed him more intimately than he'd ever done before. The mood shifted and Charlie felt himself being laid back against Oliver's pillows. He allowed Oliver to undress him, never once taking his eyes off Oliver's face. When Oliver tugged at his pants he placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him, relishing the feeling of freedom when all of his garments were finally removed. He savored the feeling of Oliver pressing down on him. He pulled Oliver closer, and let his hands to gently knead Oliver's sides.

Oliver kiss him hard, then with great effort flipped them over so that Charlie was lying on top. Charlie let out a small hiss as their groins lined up and Oliver placed two strong perfect hands on his buttocks. Charlie gasped and kissed Oliver harder. The heat between them was unimaginable. His body was on fire. Oliver was gently pushing on his bum, grinding them together and it felt absolutely wonderful. But it was so slow, so unimaginably slow. He let out a low pant and attempted to push harder and Oliver gasped at the feeling, pushing back.

Oliver placed a sweaty hand on his shoulder. Charlie stared at him. His lips were swollen and wet, his cheeks were flushed and his hair was an absolute mop. He was gorgeous. Wordlessly he handed Charlie the bottle of lubricant, which Charlie hadn't even noticed he'd grabbed and pulled out his wand. Oliver tapped first himself, then Charlie on the forehead with it and muttered a protection spell. Then, never losing eye contact he spread his legs as far as they could go.

Charlie understood Oliver's wordless concession instantly, and tried to hold back his surprise. In his wildest dreams he'd always imagined that Oliver would want to be on top. He propped his chest up on his elbows and kissed Oliver again, before focusing his attention on the lubricant. It took embarrassingly longer than he expected to open the tube, and he wound up having to use his teeth, but he got it open within a few minutes. He spread a liberal amount on his fingers, and some landed on Oliver's chest.

Oliver snorted, but the snort was clearly expressing nervous excitement.

Charlie picked up the blob of lubricant that had fallen on his chest and spread it across his fingers, like Oliver had told him to that morning, and then he moved his hands down Oliver's body until he found Oliver's groin. It took a few tries, and his hands kept slipping over Oliver's testicles, which Oliver seemed to enjoy anyway, but he finally found Oliver's anus. Afraid to hurt Oliver he pressed in only a little bit, and Oliver gasped, pulled Charlie closer to kiss him and shifted their angle so his finger slid in much farther.

"Another." Oliver whispered and Charlie obliged, surprised by how easily it slipped in.

He moved his fingers effectively, engaging in an activity that was completely foreign to him. Unable to look away from Oliver's face, Charlie's hand moved blindly, spreading and stretching and exploring new territory, spurned on by Oliver's moans and sighs and grunts of approval. It was the most erotic thing he'd ever experienced.

Then his hand twisted just so and Oliver choked. He threw his head back and moaned, his chest rising and falling rapidly. "Now." He urged, "Do it now."

Charlie couldn't believe that a few fingers up your arse could make anyone feel the way Oliver obviously felt right then. "You sure?" He asked.

"Yes!" Oliver gasped. "Coorie up!"

Charlie let out a small moan at the Scottish expression. He pulled back some, attempted to position himself and frowned.

"Put my leg over your shoulder."

Charlie jumped at the direction but did as he was told. _Oh_. Well this was much better. Deciding not to waste any more time he pushed in and, after being met with some resistance, managed to push past Oliver's barrier.

Oliver hummed in appreciation as they joined.

Charlie gasped himself when Oliver tightened around him. He pulled back some and immediately slipped out again. Oliver let out a grunt of disapproval and Charlie blushed.

"Too much lube." Oliver groaned.

Charlie nodded and pushed in again, making up for it this time by making smaller thrusts, he slipped out twice more before he and Oliver found their rhythm. He gave himself over to Oliver, who matched him thrust for thrust. The sensation was overwhelming, like nothing he'd ever experienced.

"Come on." Oliver whined, pulling Charlie against him. "Just a little longer."

But Charlie couldn't last much longer. The added pressure on his cock pushed him over the edge, and threw his head back and moaned when his orgasm finally hit. "Oh. Oh my God." He collapsed on top of Oliver, still trying to catch his breath. Ripples of pleasure ran down his shoulders, down his back, and along the lines of his buttocks as he regained his breath.

Oliver let out an uncomfortable grunt and shifted beneath him. "I need…" He muttered, but Charlie understood.

Charlie reached down and grasped Oliver's penis, twisting and tugging expertly until Oliver finally let out a cry and came as well. Charlie kissed him hard, and Oliver kissed him back, running his hand through Charlie's short hair until Charlie was too tired to lift his head anymore. He lay down on Oliver's chest, exhausted, and they sat in a very comfortable silence, too overwhelmed by what they'd just done to talk about it just yet.

Just when Charlie was starting to doze Oliver laced their fingers together and kissed his hand. He let out a small chuckle. "Well that wasn't so bad."

Charlie pretended to look affronted.

Oliver smiled. "No, I mean it was brilliant. I was just a little nervous."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "You're the one who's done this before, why were you nervous?" He questioned.

"But you haven't." Oliver said.

Charlie lay down again and ran his thumb over Oliver's pinky. "I'm pretty adaptable. And after thirty years there really wasn't much that was going to stop me from doing this."

Oliver laughed and placed his face in the crook of Charlie's neck, biting it gently. "I'm really glad we did." He whispered.

Charlie sighed and closed his eyes. "Me too." He responded. His eyes were becoming more and more heavy but he attempted to stay with the conversation anyway. "Ollie, What is it with you and my neck?" He asked.

Oliver bit into it even more and rubbed his hand over Charlie's bum.

"And my bum." Charlie added, jumping a bit when Oliver pinched it.

"You're really really sexy." Oliver answered huskily. "I've never seen a bum as perfect as yours."

Charlie yawned loudly and settled into the crook of Oliver's neck. "It's all freckled." He mumbled sleepily.

If Oliver responded to that Charile didn't know, because he was already asleep.

* * *

An hour later Charlie jolted awake when he felt Oliver stiffen beneath him. "Mm?" He mumbled.

"Sh." Oliver whispered. "Don't you hear that?" He asked.

Charlie shook his head and attempted to go back to sleep.

Oliver pushed him over and rolled out of bed.

Charlie wanted to cry at the loss of warmth. "Oliver?" He asked, fully awake.

"Sh." Oliver repeated, he was rapidly throwing on his clothes now, muttering to himself. "Where are my pants? Where are my pants?" He whispered.

"On the other side of the bed." Charlie reminded him. "You threw them there remember? Oliver what are you-" He stopped talking abruptly when he heard it to. It was the sound of footsteps moving toward Oliver's room. "Who is that?" He asked.

Oliver picked up his other shoe, appeared to decide not to bother with it and moved toward the door. "My sister." He muttered. "I completely forgot…"

"Your sister?" Charlie sat up abruptly and instinctively pulled the blanket over his shoulders.

"She was supposed to come by earlier, before you got here and pick up my broom but when she didn't I figured she wasn't coming today." He ran over to Charlie quickly and kissed him. "I'll get rid of her and then I'll be right back." He promised.

He then ran out the bedroom door, slamming it closed behind him.

"Oliver!"

Charlie sat up in bed. From the sound of it she was just outside his bedroom.

"Melanie." Oliver replied.

"Ye look like ye just rolled out of bed! It's nine in the eenin Oliver! Ar ye really that lazy?" Melanie's voice held a bit more of the Scottish brogue than Oliver's did.

"I had practice today!" Oliver reminded her impatiently.

"Right o' course." Melanie replied. "Mum and dad ar here too."

"They whit?" Oliver asked.

"Dinna leuk sae surprised." A third, feminine and heavily accented voice entered the fray. "We were on our way tae dinner, wanted tae ken if ye wanted to come wi."

"Whit's the occasion this time?" Oliver's voice rang through the walls. "Melanie finally found the lost blouse?"

"Actually she did." A final voice entered the fray, distinctly male, with a much less prominent brogue than the mother.

"O' course." Oliver scoffed.

Charlie sat up completely in bed, unable to stop listening to the interaction between Oliver and his family. Oliver's accent was definitely showing more now.

"But we were actually more concerned about her nomination for most successful team manager." His father continued.

"So she hasn't actually won anything." Oliver said, sounding very childish all of a sudden.

"Shut it Oliver." His father replied.

Charlie became more curious about this man when Oliver didn't respond.

"Hae ye juist rolled out of bed Oliver?" His mother asked.

Oliver sighed impatiently. "I had practice earlier today mum, remember?"

"O' course." She responded.

"Than he came home, cooked a dinner for twa, didn't eat it, unsurprisingly, and went tae bed. But I doubt he slept." Melanie's voice had once again rejoined the conversation.

"Melanie!" Oliver shouted, clearly affronted.

"Really Oliver it was obvious. Yer romantic dinner is still sitting on the dining room table. Ye knocked over ae of the wine glasses by the way but I suppose ye were a bit too caught up tae notice."

"Melanie shut it!"

Charlie didn't need to see through walls to know Oliver was blushing. Perhaps now would be a good time to put his clothes on. He moved quietly around the room, attempting to locate his clothing, while the conversation continued.

His father's voice entered the conversation. "In the middle of a tournament Oliver? Yer acting like an eejit."

"I am not." Oliver responded, a bit too lowly.

"You've got three more games, the press is all over yer arse an yer running around after-"

"I'm not!" Oliver responded hotly. "I'm in a relationship."

"Hou exciting!" His mother chimed in.

"That's even worse Oliver!" His father yelled. "Yer three games away from Best in the League, ye don't have time tae be distracted!"

"I'm not distracted! I've been playing better than ever!" Oliver yelled.

His father scoffed.

"Oh hou would ye ken?" Oliver barked. "When's the last time you've seen me play?"

Charlie froze while buttoning up his shirt, feeling like he shouldn't be listening to this and wishing he could comfort Oliver.

"Really nou ye twa settle doun! Oliver's allowed tae date whoever he wants." His mother argued.

"Really Amanda?" His father asked. "Because thaur's a few I'd like tae forget about."

Oliver let out a frustrated groan. "That was the past dad! This is… different."

"Really? He's not a user like Malcolm or a coward like Tanner? Because it's pretty obvious he's been sitting in your room this whole time an has yet tae come out an face me like a man!"

Charlie had had enough.

"He's not a-"

A hush fell over the room when the bedroom door opened.

Charlie self-consciously ran a hand through his hair, which he knew screamed _thoroughly shagged_. "Erm hi." He greeted.

The four Woods stared at him for a full minute, until Melanie finally broke the silence. "Oh he's cute Oliver."

Oliver blushed and kicked her. "Shut up." He hurried over to Charlie and sighed. "I'm sorry about this." He whispered.

Charlie nodded, and tried very hard not to be overwhelmed by Oliver's scent, now that he was standing so close. He then turned his attention to Oliver's father. "Charlie Weasley, sir."

The man glared at him. "An whit do ye do Mr. Weasley?" He asked.

"I work at a dragon reserve in Romania." Charlie offered.

"Romania?" Charlie's father asked. "Interesting that ye came frae so far tae shag ma son."

"Bloody..." Oliver covered his face with his hands. "His family's frae here dad! He's on holiday. We went tae Hogwarts together!"

Mr. Wood opened his mouth to respond but Amanda tapped him on the shoulder. "Stop being an arse A ghrá." She advised sweetly. "Why dinna ye gae wait in the kitchen?"

Mr. Wood let out a low grunt and left. Amanda turned back to Charlie. "Sairy about ma husband. He's always like that. I'm Oliver's mum but ye can call me Amanda."

"An ye can call me Mr. Wood!" Oliver's father shouted from the other room.

Charlie moved to shake her hand then blushed furiously when he thought about what was still caked on it. He decided to wave instead. "Pleasure ma'am, erm Oliver your washroom?"

"Course!" Oliver said, looking a little too happy to leave this uncomfortable situation.

"I'm so so so so sorry…"

"Oliver!" Charlie stopped right outside the washroom door. "It's fine. You didn't know they were coming. Now if you excuse me I'm going to wash your fluids off my hand and try and fix my hair so it not so patently obvious to your family that we just shagged."

Oliver wrapped his arms around Charlie and rested his head on top of his'. "Thank you love." He kissed him with such passion Charlie became a bit weak-kneed. "I'll try my best to get rid of them."

Charlie took his time washing his hands, and fixing his hair until he was sure he was as presentable as he could possibly be after that disastrous first meeting. He moved toward the living room but stopped when he heard someone say his name.

"…Charlie Wood or will ye be taking his name?" That was definitely Melanie.

"Will ye shut up?" Oliver replied. "We haven't been together that long."

"Oh come on Oliver, yer half in loue wi him already."

Charlie felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. What did she say? The silence seemed to stretch on forever after that.

"It's obvious Oliver." Melanie continued. "The way ye were looking at him when he came out the room, an the way he was looking at ye."

"It's too soon." Oliver argued.

"Then whit do ye call this?" Melanie asked.

"I'm… falling for him I suppose." Oliver whispered uncomfortably. He shifted a bit on the couch and cleared his throat. "It's all happening so fast Melanie, I've never felt this way before but when I see him I…." He broke off.

Melanie let out a small giggle. "That's loue all right."

"Oh what would you know." Oliver muttered.

"Dinna be such a tit." Melanie complained. "Well I better go after mum and da. Ye know they're arguing about ye." Charlie heard her footsteps start to fade away.

"Melanie!" Oliver called suddenly.

"Hm?" She asked.

"Dinna tell anyone about this conversation okay?" Oliver begged.

Melanie sighed. "Oliver ye know I wouldn't-"

"A'm serious."

There was a heavy silence between the two of them.

"Thanks." Oliver said after a minute. Charlie assumed Melanie had nodded.

There was a crack of apparition, then silence. Charlie stayed in his spot for a few more seconds before he decided it was safe to enter the living room. Oliver was sitting on the couch looking disgruntled, but his eyes lit up when Charlie stepped into the room. "Join me?" He asked, patting the space next to him.

"Always." Charlie responded. He sat down and Oliver wrapped an arm around him and shifted them so they were lying down. Charlie laid his head on Oliver's chest again and as he became more comfortable he slipped back into the gentle sleep he'd been in before. They could talk about it all later. Right now he was just happy to lie down with his man.

* * *

A/N: I apologize for the overuse of and probably incorrect Scottish phrases. Here are some translations:

A ghrá -love

Ae- one

Ar- are

Dinna- don't

Doun- down

Eejit- idiot

Eenin- evening

Frae- from

Gae- go

Hae- have

Hou- how

Juist- just

Ken- know

Leuk- look

Loue- love

Sae- so

Sairy- sorry

Tae- to

Thaur- there

Twa- two

Whit- what

Wi- with

Ye- you

Yer- your

The longest chapter so far posted in one week. Spectacular. The next chapter will be posted around **October 21, 2012**.


	12. The Day Charlie Weasley's Beautiful Bubb

_**Choices**_

_Chapter 12: The Day Charlie Weasley's Beautiful Bubble Burst_

* * *

Charlie awoke the next morning at around four when Oliver got up to use the washroom. He grunted in discomfort without Oliver lying half on top of him. Oliver reappeared in the bathroom doorway and Charlie smiled broadly at him. "Hey." He mumbled.

Oliver settled into bed and cuddled up to Charlie again. "I didn't mean to wake you love." He whispered softly into his hair.

"It's alright." Charlie replied. "I'm not the one who has to work today."

Oliver chuckled and checked his watch. "An hour. I have to start getting ready in an hour."

Charlie gave him an incredulous look.

Oliver chuckled and buried his head into Charlie's neck. "Practice starts at six-thirty." He explained. "Some days it starts at five."

Charlie shook his head and kissed the side of Oliver's head. "I don't know how you do it." He whispered.

"You never have to get up early?" Oliver asked.

Charlie shifted and laid down against one of Oliver's pillows, he looked into Oliver's chocolate brown eyes and smiled. "I do." He responded. "But not so I could do fifty laps around the pitch in the freezing cold, I would clean dragon pens."

Oliver laughed and propped his head on his arm. "I'd rather exercise my body in the freezing cold than clean up after dragons."

Charlie grinned. "To each their own I suppose." He replied.

Oliver chuckled and his expression turned quizzical. He reached out and ran his hand down the side of Charlie's face. "You're okay with this right?" He asked, concerned. "No regrets?"

Charlie rolled his eyes but sunk into Oliver's touch nonetheless. "I've never felt better in my life." He responded honestly. "I know I should be worried or scared, but I'm not. This just feels right."

Oliver leaned down and slowly kissed him. He pulled back and laid face first into Charlie chest. He took a minute to smile into his skin. When he'd composed himself some he rested his chin on Charlie's chest and looked into his eyes. "I feel the same way." He whispered honestly. "I've never felt-" He broke off and attempted another approach. "I know we just started dating, but I feel like I know you." He traced a line down Charlie's chest with his index finger.

Charlie stared down at Oliver, and for the first time found he was overrun by emotion. It was both terrifying and beautiful. He ran his hand along Oliver's cheek and kissed his palm. "I want to know everything about you." He whispered.

Oliver slid up the bed until he was lying next to Charlie. "Charlie?" He asked. "If we win-"

"_When_ you win." Charlie interrupted.

Oliver laughed and gently brushed his lips over Charlie's. "When we win…" He amended. "…would you come to our award ceremony? They present us with medals and a trophy on the pitch right after the game, but the actual plaque is given to us in a separate, private ceremony." He traced his finger over Charlie's chest again. "You don't have to, of course. It'll probably be dreadfully boring and my family will more than likely be there but-"

Charlie swept him into a ferocious kiss. Oliver closed his eyes and sighed into the Charlie's mouth. When Charlie finally pulled back he nodded. "You'll be there, so I'll be there." He promised.

Oliver pulled Charlie into yet another furious kiss. He ran his hands down Charlie's chest and over his shoulder blades.

Charlie gasped and pulled Oliver against him, kissing him harder.

Oliver groaned and kissed his way down Charlie's neck. "So sexy…" He mumbled. "So muscular. Every bleedin' bit o' ye is muscle."

Charlie kissed Oliver's cheek. "Muscular huh? Definitely gay then?" He joked.

Oliver groaned and tugged Charlie's lips against his own. "Yer gonna fuck me." He gasped in between kisses. "Yer gonna fuck me nou."

Charlie could think of no reason not to oblige.

* * *

Charlie napped and lounged around Oliver's flat for several hours. His limbs felt heavy and his brain was foggy. He lay in Oliver's bed with his eyes halfway open. He considered getting up several times to take a shower, but then his eyes would flutter shut and he would burrow deeper in the warmth and go back to sleep. Just before he left Oliver had invited Charlie to stop by the pitch during their lunch hour and say hi to the team.

At eleven his eyes flew open and he grappled for Oliver's Quidditch watch to check the time. He still had an hour before he planned to meet Oliver, but the sudden rush of adrenaline and anxiety that emerged when he believed he was late gave him enough energy to stumble out of bed.

Oliver showered and had a brief moment of panic when he turned off the taps and realized he didn't have a towel. He peaked out the shower door and his eyes locked on Oliver's towel. _Well they'd already slept together._ With just a bit of shame he sniffed the fluffy white towel. It smelled like Oliver, a mixture of mint, broom polish, nutmeg, (strangely) pineapple, and another scent that was so distinctly unnamable and so completely Oliver. Charlie took several long sniffs until he was too ashamed to do it anymore. Then he dried himself off and promised the empty bathroom he'd tell Oliver he used it. He left the washroom and headed to the kitchen.

He ate a quick breakfast, cast a cleaning spell on his teeth and picked up his clothes from last night. His shirt clearly couldn't be worn again until it was washed. The anticipation before the shag, the actual shag and having to deal with Oliver's parents had left it too sweaty to be worn again. He picked up his trousers and sniffed them. They really shouldn't be worn either. He didn't bother to check his underwear. It would probably have to be burned...or framed. He sighed as he stood in front of Oliver' closet. Well hopefully Oliver wouldn't kill him.

* * *

Charlie apparated just outside the pitch and showed the guard the visitor's badge Oliver had left for him this morning. He was led directly onto the pitch and through a large walkway beneath the stands. Charlie tugged a bit at Oliver's robes. Although Oliver was taller than him, Charlie was bigger. The robes were tight on his arms and hung low around his feet. As he walked down the hallway he could hear excited voices growing exponentially louder. He turned another corner and headed straight for the only door that was ajar. He pushed open the door and peeked in.

Oliver's entire team, sans Oliver, was sitting around a large table digging into their respective lunches and laughing and joking with one another. Three other men were standing in the corner talking in hushed tones. The two closest Charlie recognized from Quidditch magazines as Puddlemore's coaches. One, who Charlie recognized as Glenn Young, was a shorter man with smooth grey and brown hair. The other, Sadler Davis, was a taller thinner man with a grey ponytail and critical black eyes. The third man Charlie didn't recognize.

The Quidditch players let out shouts of joy when they spotted Charlie. The coaches and the man talking to them looked up as well.

"Charlie!" A shorter teammate with a small black mustache that Charlie recognized from the pub walked over to him and clapped him on the back. "You remember me? It's Terrence!" He answered, before Charlie could respond. He steered Charlie toward the table. "We met at the bar and I remember you promised to come to one of our games. Have you come to one? Well you really should. Only a couple more before we win Best in the League and the season's over. Come to see Oliver have you? Well he's in the infirmary right now."

Charlie froze. "The infirmary?" He asked. "Is he hurt?"

Terrance smiled genuinely. "Course not, he's just-"

The Scottish man Charlie vaguely remembered was called Malcolm cut in. "The bloke was flying around like he'd never seen a broom before, then started complaining about his arse." He snorted loudly and the rest of the team joined in.

Charlie tried very hard not to blush. The door suddenly swung open behind him and Oliver stepped into the room behind.

"Hey." Oliver greeted, running a hand through his hair.

"Oy! Yer arse feeling better?" One of the chasers yelled at him.

To his credit Oliver didn't even blush. "Loads." He responded. "You blokes remember Charlie?" He asked.

The team nodded.

Oliver tugged Charlie further into the room and up to the group of men along the wall. He pulled Charlie until they were standing in front of the coaches. "These are my coaches, Glenn Young and Sadler Davis. This is my friend, Charlie."

Charlie shook hands with each of the coaches. Glenn appeared to be much more approachable than Sadler, who was eyeing him carefully.

"How do you know Oliver?" Glenn asked.

"We're old friends from school." Charlie answered smoothly. "I live in Romania, and am here for the holidays. We got in touch."

"Romania huh?" Glenn asked. "What do you do?" He asked.

"I'm a dragon tamer." He responded.

Glenn looked like he wanted to comment on that but Sadler tapped him on the shoulder. "We really have to review these plays." He said, actually looking at Charlie for once. Charlie was surprised he actually looked a little apologetic at that.

Glenn gave him an apologetic smile as well and turned back to their playbook.

Oliver rolled his eyes and began to pull them away when a voice called him back. "Aren't you going to introduce us Oliver?"

Charlie could feel Oliver freeze next to him. He turned and gave the last man a very threatening look. Grudgingly, he introduced the last man. "Charlie, this is William Ellington. William Ellington, Charlie Weasley."

Charlie eyed the man carefully. William Ellington was dressed in green stylish robes, wore small spectacles and had medium length brown hair. His grey eyes seemed to pierce right into Charlie's soul. They shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Ellington." He greeted politely.

"Alright you've met." Oliver muttered unhappily and pulled Charlie away with a surprisingly strong grip. They were just getting ready to sit at the table when a Healer stepped into the room and crooked her finger at Oliver.

Oliver clapped Charlie on the back. "I'll be right back, just sit and relax." He advised.

Charlie watched Oliver walk out the door, then his eyes involuntarily flicked back to William Ellington.

"He's our Communiq." A voice said on the right.

Charlie turned and recognized the tall muscular bloke with short dark hair as one of the drunker, quieter beaters from the night at the bar.

"Perry Cooper." He introduced, holding out a meaty hand for Charlie to shake. He pointed a thick index finger at Ellington. "You know what a Communiq, is right?" He asked.

"I know what it is, I'm not completely sure what they do." Charlie replied.

"They handle all communications between their clients, us, and the public. He handles our interviews, photo shoots, etc."

Charlie was beginning to understand why Oliver didn't like this bloke.

Perry saw the realization cross Charlie's face and nodded. "He's actually a really nice guy, but Oliver's always had it out for him. He's kind of a wild card, because when he shows up we all know someone slipped up with the media, or that we have to do an interview. For Oliver he's just an omen, since both options are unpleasant for him."

Charlie turned to look at Perry again. "Why is he here today?" He asked.

Perry rolled his eyes. "I'm guessing Malcolm got caught acting out in another strip club."

Charlie raised and eyebrow and looked over at the beater in question. He'd met Malcolm and knew he was a bit of a poon hound, but he'd never read or heard anything about his unruly behavior in strip clubs. He expressed his thoughts and Perry laughed.

"Course you haven't heard of it. It's Ellington's job to make sure no one hears about it."

"How do you stop the papers from printing this stuff?" Charlie asked.

"Ellington does whatever he can. If files or photos aren't protected, he erases them, if we're dealing with a smarter reporter, more often than not we buy them off. I don't know what Oliver's so concerned about though, Ellington's never come for him. I swear that bloke must have no life. His record is spotless."

Charlie ducked his head, understanding now why it was so important to keep Oliver's life a secret. With a spotless record, he had way more to lose.

Oliver reappeared at the door and asked Charlie if he wanted to go for a walk.

As they left Sadler shouted, "Fifteen minutes Wood! Then you're back on the pitch!" at their backs.

Oliver smiled and he and Charlie walked down the hall, around several corners and into a very small garden with one small stone bench. "No surveillance here." He whispered, and pulled Charlie into a delicious kiss.

Charlie kissed him back enthusiastically and laced their fingers together.

Oliver broke the kiss and smiled brilliantly. "I'm really glad you came." He said.

"I said I would." Charlie replied. He cleared his throat and kissed Oliver again. He pulled back some with a quizzical expression. "Does your team know about you?" He asked.

"No." Oliver replied. "Why? Did someone say something?"

Charlie shook his head. "No, just the arse thing."

"Oh." Oliver snorted. "It may not have been my best idea to shag an hour before training. I told them it was a muscle spasm. They believe me, but they like to take the piss anyway." He frowned and cocked his head to the side. "Are you wearing my robes?" He asked.

Charlie blushed and instinctively tugged at the hem. "My clothes weren't really…" He trailed off, unsure how he planned to finish that sentence.

Oliver leaned in and brushed his nose against Charlie's. "It's hot. Are you wearing my underwear?"

Charlie was sure his brain was going to melt.

Oliver pulled back a little and raised an eyebrow. "Though the robes are a little long for you."

Charlie growled. "I'm 5'9"." He whined.

Oliver snorted. "No you're not." He responded smoothly. "I'm 5'10" and there's no way you're only an inch shorter than me. You're probably 5'8"." Noting Charlie's disgruntled expression he quickly changed the subject. "How did you like my coaches?"

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "They're… interesting. Sadler seems a bit-"

"Scary?" Oliver prompted.

"Yes." Charlie replied. "I'm guessing he's the one yelling for you to drop and give him 50?" He joked.

"No actually that's Glenn." Oliver responded. "Both of them are completely insane, but they have different tactics. Sadler can make you feel like flying 50 more laps with just one look. Glenn's more of the military type."

Charlie raised an eyebrow at that. He couldn't see Glenn as being anything other than the sweet guy he'd met today. He voiced his other question. "Your dad mentioned a Malcolm last night-"

"He's not this Malcolm." Oliver answered quickly.

"I didn't think so." Charlie replied.

"Yeah." Oliver smiled. "This Malcolm's a bit too obsessed with lady parts to be gay. The other Malcolm was my first… whatever. He went to Hogwarts but he was a year below so you probably don't remember."

"And the other one? Tanner?" Charlie asked.

"Just a bloke I met while traveling with Puddlemore. It was a fling that should have stayed that way. He doesn't do long distance, or he does, but he didn't tell me that long distance for him meant letting other blokes suck him off in the john." He raised an eyebrow. "You jealous?" He joked.

"No." Charlie answered a little too quickly. He knew he didn't have any right, those blokes were from Oliver's pretty distant past, but the fact that they'd both been intimate with Oliver rubbed him the wrong way.

Oliver cuddled Charlie against him. "Don't be, I don't waste my thoughts on them, neither should you."

Charlie relaxed into Oliver's embrace. "Ok." He promised. They sat there for a few seconds and Oliver began to nibble at his ear. Charlie wanted to relax into the embrace, but the urge to question Oliver overtook him again. "What's with your accent?"

Oliver groaned and sat up. "All right, clearly you're in the questioning mood so I'll give you three questions."

Charlie wanted to ask what Oliver would do if he didn't follow the rules, but he didn't want to waste a question. "Alright." He agreed. "Your accent gets heavier when you're around your family and, perhaps disturbingly, when we're having sex."

Oliver blushed. "It does?"

Charlie stared at him incredulously. How had he not noticed? "Yes."

"Oh God." Oliver blushed and placed his head in his hands. "That's humiliating. I dunno what the sex thing is. The Scottish thing is probably just because I'm around my family. We're originally from Scotland, we moved to London when I was three. Melanie was eight which is probably why when she talks, she sounds like she ate a foul-mouthed Scottish man. Does it bother you? I can try to stop it." He swore.

Charlie shook his head vigorously. "No!" He protested. " I think it's sexy."

Oliver smiled weakly and kissed him again. "Alright, question twa." He joked.

Charlie shivered. "When did you first want to be a Quidditch player?" He asked.

Oliver smiled. "I know you're waiting for me to say I was born with a Quaffle in my hand but I was actually eleven. The summer before my first year at Hogwarts my dad took me to my first Quidditch finals. The Championship game of Puddlemore against the Tornadoes for Best in the League." His eyes glazed over. "It was amazing, I've never seen playing like that before. Daine Baker, the greatest keeper of all time, became the first player in the history of Quidditch to only let in one goal during a Championship game." His eyes widened in excitement. "It was the most incredible thing I'd ever seen in my life! In a Championship game for Merlin's sake!"

Charlie chuckled and wrapped his arms around Oliver as Oliver went on a Quidditch tangent. When he calmed down Charlie gently kissed him. "Terrence told me I should go to one of your matches."

Oliver sighed. "You actually understand what Terrence says?" He joked. "I think I can wrangle a few tickets for you and your family." His lips hovered enticingly over Charlie's ear.

Charlie smiled. "Great. Question three." He continued.

Oliver groaned.

"Just so I'm aware, who exactly knows about us?"

"Just my parents and my sister." Oliver said quickly. "If you're talking about who knows about me being gay then my exes and my Healer. I didn't tell her but let's just say this isn't the first time I came in with a "muscle spasm"." He joked.

Charlie laughed and leaned into Oliver gently, letting his mind wander a bit before he realized Oliver was still talking.

"….she walked in on me and Malcolm when I was at Hogwarts. That's what really made us best friends. So her, my healer, my exes, and my family and of course you." Oliver amended. "Although I'd honestly be much happier if it was just you who knew."

Charlie frowned. "Sorry who was the last one?" He asked.

"Angelina." Oliver replied.

Charlie's heart stopped. Angelina Johnson?

Oliver kissed him gently on the neck. "I should really owl her. She's still with George right?" He asked.

Charlie nodded dumbly. George's Angelina.

Oh shit.

* * *

A/N: Well I couldn't keep it happy forever. I actually found myself enjoying the romance more than I thought I would, but I'm still unbelievably eager to move the story along. The next chapter will be posted around **11/11/12.**


	13. One's Company, Two's a Crowd, and Three

_**Choices**_

_Chapter 13: One's Company, Two's a Crowd, and Three is Hell_

A/N: Well this took a bit longer than I expected it to. I was thoroughly disappointed in the original version of this chapter, and wound up having to rewrite the whole thing.

* * *

Oliver didn't appear to notice Charlie's sudden anxiety after he brought up Angelina, and lay with Charlie in a very one-sided comfortable silence. After a few minutes he sat up and let out a puff of air in annoyance. "Sadler's going to be looking for me soon." He complained.

Charlie nodded and stood up. "I should probably go home before my family starts to worry." He stated, attempting to inject as much confidence in his voice as he could.

Apparently Charlie was not as good of an actor as he hoped to be because Oliver gave him a very concerned look. "Are you okay?" He asked. "You seem upset."

Charlie shook his head quickly. "I'm fine." He replied. Oliver still looked skeptical, so Charlie swiftly pulled him into a passionate kiss.

Oliver gasped and his knees buckled, but Charlie caught him before he fell. When he caught his breath, Oliver wrapped his arms around Charlie's neck and gingerly put weight on his feet again. "Merlin, warn a bloke." He chided, but he was betrayed by the wide smile stretching across his face.

Despite his worry, Charlie couldn't help but grin at Oliver's words. He wrapped his arms around Oliver's neck and kissed him much more slowly.

Oliver smiled into the kiss and when he finally broke it, he lowered his head so their noses were rubbing together. Their tiny moment of bliss was once again broken when Oliver's watch began to beep. "Alright now I've really got to go." He stated, unwrapping himself from around Charlie and pulling back. "I don't look too ruffled do I?" He asked.

Charlie shook his head and bit his lip. They hadn't done much snogging, so Oliver didn't look anymore ruffled than any of his other teammates, but he did look absolutely delectable in his Quidditch uniform.

"Save that for later eh?" Oliver joked when he saw Charlie's expression. "Are you going to come by tonight?" He asked.

"I'll owl you." Charlie replied.

Oliver nodded again and kissed him one more time before leading him back down the series of hallways an onto the pitch. The team had already gathered on the pitch, and were stretching out on the grass. "Raul will lead you out." He said, pointing to one of the burly security guards. "I'll see you later."

Charlie nodded and tried not to be too disappointed he couldn't kiss Oliver goodbye.

Not kissing Oliver was the least of his problems. A certain 5'6" female ex-Quidditch captain was at the top of the list.

* * *

Charlie actually managed to make it home without running into anyone in his family. It was a relief to be able to change out of Oliver's robes without having someone ask him invasive questions about why they were too small.

He fell into bed but he couldn't seem to go to sleep. He mulled over the events of the last couple weeks, and tried to remember if Angelina had ever given him a clear sign she knew about him and Oliver. Her behavior after the fireplace incident would suggest she didn't, after all if she knew it was Oliver who he'd been with, she would have known about his need for discretion and not told the whole family. However, her words after dinner kept coming back to haunt him. _I just want you to know I'm really happy for you and I'm glad you're going after what you want._ What did that mean?

It was probably better not to ask her if she knew. He doubted he could really figure out if she knew or not just by observing her. However if she did know, he had to remind her to keep quiet about it. He shook his head in confusion and let out a frustrated moan.

His other problem was that he had no idea when he was going to see her again. She and George had been popping by regularly while Fleur was in the hospital, but their visits had become stagnate since she returned home.

Charlie finally decided it would be better not to seek Angelina out and instead wait for her to confront him, if she even knew. He attempted to put that out of his mind and instead wandered what was happening at the Reserve. His crazy romance and reacquainting himself with his family still couldn't completely distract him from the fact that he was still missing it.

With a newfound energy he threw on a pair off his robes and walked over to his desk. Charlie pulled out a piece of parchment and quill and began writing a letter to Sorina at the Reserve. He was 80% sure she wouldn't read it and would probably tear it up on sight when she saw the return address, but it still comforted him to write to them. He needed some reassurance that everything was still running smoothly.

The door to his room suddenly opened. Charlie didn't need to look up from his letter to know it was Bill. "Oh just bust right in." He greeted sarcastically. "Don't you have your own place to live?"

Bill didn't reply and instead sat at the foot of Charlie's bed. He cleared his throat. "Who are you writing to?" He asked.

Charlie uncomfortably put his quill down and tried not to look too shamefaced. "The Reserve, I know I shouldn't be-"

"It's fine." Bill continued and waved a hand impatiently. "You're allowed to write to them."

Charlie turned and stared at Bill. Something about his tone was off. "Are you alright?" He asked.

Alarmingly Bill turned a brilliant shade of red and cleared his throat. "Just finish your letter, then we'll talk." He said.

With a shrug, Charlie turned back around and finished the letter. He sealed it, addressed it, and tied it to Firecracker's leg while Bill continued to sit in silence. Once Firecracker flew out the window and he closed it, he gingerly sat down and asked, "Talk about what?"

"Oliver sleeping over here two nights ago, and I'm guessing you sleeping at his flat last night."

Charlie heart was beating horribly against his chest. This was not happening, Merlin he needed to wake up. The swallowed a very uncomfortable lump in his throat. Oh Merlin he was going to be sick. Charlie closed his eyes and tried to breathe normally. He couldn't seem to remember how. He felt a firm weight on his shoulder and looked at the owner of that hand. Bill still looked very serious, but there was clear worry in his eyes now. "Charlie, I'm not mad at you." He assured.

Charlie allowed the air to leave his lungs. He swallowed thickly. "You're not?" He asked in a croaky voice.

Bill shook his head. "Of course I'm not, did you really think I would be?"

Charlie immediately reassured him he didn't when he heard the hurt in Bill's voice. "Of course not! I just hadn't expected to have this conversation today. I thought when we did finally talk about this I'd be the one telling you, not you telling me you saw-"

"You attempting to suck off a Quidditch player's face?" Bill joked.

Charlie blushed and covered his face. "Oh God." He mumbled.

Bill pat him lightly on the back. When he spoke again he sounded worried. "How long have you known about... you know?" He asked.

"It's all really new." Charlie answered. "I only figured things out a few weeks ago."

Bill let out a breath at that. "Thank Merlin, I thought you were hiding this for years."

"Of course not." Charlie reassured him. "I honestly didn't know what I was missing and now I know. I finally know." He smiled shyly.

Bill clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm glad Charlie, really I am. You never seemed really happy and now... well I think this could be good for you." He said. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I am obligated to ask you this though, are you sure?"

Charlie nodded. "I'm sure. I'm _definitely_ sure." He blushed a bit as images from last night resurfaced.

Bill pulled his hand away and ran it through his hair uncomfortably. "Well that's more than I needed to know."

Charlie turned an even darker shade of red. "Sorry." He apologized. "It's just-"

"Young love yeah I know." Bill cut in.

Charlie glared at Bill and attempted to ignore just how uncomfortable that statement was making him. Instead he coughed and changed the subject. "So you're sure you're okay with this?" He asked.

"Okay with my little brother suddenly discovering he's gay at thirty years old and telling me by snogging some bloke on our front porch?" Bill asked.

Charlie groaned and put his head in his hands. "Yeah, that." He mumbled through his fingers.

"Yes I'm okay with it." Bill said, ruffling his hair. "You're awfully handsy by the way."

Charlie's face overheated and he coughed uncomfortably.

"It was really weird seeing that though." Bill commented.

"Me kissing a bloke?" Charlie asked.

"No, you kissing anybody!" Bill exclaimed. "I always thought if you ever got together with someone you'd be a bit more… like Audrey and Percy ya know? Not touching much in public." He quickly backpedaled at Charlie's frown. "Not that I'm saying you're a prude, you're just a bit… reserved. I don't exactly associate you with passion."

Charlie smiled shyly at the ground. "Well we're no Ron and Hermione," he explained. "but Oliver's great. With him I feel… comfortable. It feels right." He smiled brilliantly at Bill.

Bill clapped him enthusiastically on the back. "Well I'm glad." He stated honestly. "Though if you could not do the groping thing in front of me that would be great. There's only so much an older brother can handle."

"Trust me we won't be groping in public." Charlie laughed. "Speaking of that" he continued. "please don't tell anyone about this."

Bill's forehead crinkled in confusion. "You're not going to tell anyone?" He asked. "Not even Mum? You know she'd be over the moon about it."

Charlie shook his head.

"No one's going to say anything Charlie." Bill reassured. "Even Percy's not the type to get upset about this."

"I know." Charlie replied. "I know you would. I just need you to not tell anyone right now, not even Fleur."

At the mention of Fleur Bill let out a low whistle.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"Erm" Bill began. He clucked his tongue once and stared down at his tapping foot. Suddenly he jumped to his feet and rushed toward the door. "I'll be right back." He called over his shoulder.

Bill reappeared moments later wheeling Fleur into Charlie's room. He disappeared briefly again and when he came back he was, surprisingly, pushing Angelina into Charlie's room as well.

Fleur waggled her fingers at him in greeting, and Angelina sat down gingerly on the edge of his bed.

Charlie gave Bill a look, silently asking him why there were two more occupants in the room.

Bill ran a hand through his hair nervously and took a deep breath. "Don't get mad" He began. "but they know."

"They WHAT?" Charlie hopped out of his chair, then sat back down just as quickly. He closed his eyes, willing this nightmare to go away, but when he opened them again he was still met with the confused faces of Angelina and Fleur and Bill's guilty face. "You told them?" He hissed. "Are you planning to take out an ad in the paper?"

Bill's eyes widened and he shook his head quickly. "No!" He protested. "I didn't tell them! I mean I told Fleur but she already knew, and she told me Angelina already knew too!"

Charlie's stared at the two women slack jawed. "Alright, I suspected Angelina knew but Fleur?" He questioned.

Fleur smiled and pat his cheek gently. "I 'ave known for years Charlie." She informed him. "A veela knows what it means when a man eez not attracted to 'er."

Charlie frowned. "I think you're very attractive." He argued.

Fleur waved her hand impatiently. "You think I am attractive, but you are not attracted to me." She explained. "You do not behave like Beel's uzzer brothers."

Charlie stared at her. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked.

"It is not a veela's place to reveal a man's 'eart to 'im." Fleur answered. When Charlie gave her a questionable look she continued. "Would it 'ave been 'elpful if I 'ad told you years ago?" She asked.

Charlie thought it over. Nothing short of a smack in the face, or as it turned out, a kiss from Oliver would have penetrated his skull. "I guess not." He turned to Angelina. "How long have you known?" He asked.

"Since dinner last week." Angelina answered. "You come home with a neck full of hickeys and then your mother says you spent the day with Oliver. It's not hard to figure out."

"And you already knew about him." Charlie added.

"Well that helped." Angelina joked.

Charlie stared sullenly at the wall.

Fleur rubbed his arm encouragingly. "Charlie do not be mad at Beel, 'e did not mean to tell me 'e was just surprised. We promise not to tell anyone anything until you're ready."

Charlie sighed and rubbed at the worry lines gathering on his forehead. "Fine." He sighed. "But I'm serious, do not tell anyone about this."

All three nodded.

Angelina suddenly got to her feet and stretched. "Alright." She sighed. "I'm going to go. And just for the record I think you and Oliver make a very cute couple." She giggled and pinched him on the cheek.

Charlie nodded distractedly.

Fleur let out a small yawn.

Bill came up behind her, bent down, and kissed her gently. "You tired?" He asked.

"A leetle." She responded honestly. She yawned again and turned back to Charlie. "You 'ave worked everything out?" She asked, pointing between him and Bill.

Charlie nodded.

She kissed him on each cheek and held his face when she pulled back. "If you were not gay you would be melting now." She proclaimed. She pat each cheek gently and looked up at her husband. "I am ready to go to bed Beel." She announced.

Bill grinned at her bossy tone and wheeled her out of the room. He returned a few minutes later and hovered in the doorway. "I'm sorry I told Fleur, even if she already knew." He said.

Charlie gave him a weak smile. "It's alright, I hadn't told you not to."

Bill leant against the doorjamb and crossed his arms. "I know this is a stupid question but I have to ask. Why didn't you tell me? Just last week you were saying we should tell each other everything, why didn't you tell me about this?"

Charlie tried very hard to suppress the shame he felt at Bill's words. Despite the stiff upper lip Bill was displaying, Charlie could tell he was genuinely hurt by Charlie's silence. He chose his words carefully, as he was sure Bill would not respond well if he answered with 'Oliver told me not to'. "I was planning to tell you." He offered. "I was going to tell you the day we visited Fleur but that wound up not happening. I was just enjoying being with Oliver for a while without complication. But you have to know that anytime I thought about telling people you were always going to be the one I told first." It was a half-truth but a truth nonetheless and the honesty relieved some tension Charlie had been holding for a while.

Bill appeared to accept it as well. He smiled crookedly and stood up. "Alright." He said. "Whatever makes you happy." He turned to leave.

"Bill!" Charlie called out before Bill had exited.

Bill turned back around. "Yes?" He asked.

"Oliver's next game is coming up in three days." He explained. "It's going to be in Ireland. He invited me to come and I wanted to know if you would come with me."

Bill let out a mad roar and punched the air. "Of course I want to go!" He whooped and then abruptly stopped, looking at Charlie contemplatively. "I don't know if I can leave Fleur and the baby alone. I'll ask her if she wouldn't mind staying here while we're gone. It's only a couple nights right?" He asked.

Charlie nodded. "Just for the weekend."

Bill smiled widely and cheered again. "Alright, if I get Fleur on board then we're going to Ireland!" He ran out the room, slamming the door behind him.

Charlie waited until Bill's footfalls were long gone before he let the smile fade from his face. He pulled out another sheet of parchment and quill and scrawled the words _Not tonight_ on the paper. He folded it up and went in search of Hermes.

Once he sent the letter and returned to his room he out a deep breath and closed his eyes. He couldn't face Oliver just now. Not after discovering that the number of people he thought knew about his and Oliver's relationship had tripled since this morning. How was he going to explain that to him?

Charlie rolled onto his side and covered his face with his pillow. This was getting risky, and once he told Oliver the truth, he might want to end their relationship. Charlie closed his eyes and waited for sleep, knowing that it was a long way off.

* * *

A/N: My estimate for the next chapter is on or around **November 25**. Also unfortunately I am in the middle of preparing for finals so the dates I'm posting now are even more tentative than they were before.


	14. Pressure

**_Choices_**

_Chapter 14: Pressure_

A/N: I know it's been forever. *facepalm*

* * *

Charlie awoke the next morning from a fitful sleep with no idea how to handle the situation. He knew he'd have to face Oliver eventually, but he had no idea what to say and when was the best time to say it. Oliver was leaving that night for Ireland, and he and Bill were supposed to be taking a portkey there the next day. Charlie spent the rest of the day in a daze, washing dishes with his mother, and spending time with the Golden Trio and Ginny. Finally, he decided he needed to talk to Oliver that night. He had to tell him before they left for Ireland.

It was nearly seven when Charlie arrived at Oliver's flat. Oliver rushed to open the door and nearly jumped in surprise. "Charlie? What are you doing here?" He asked. Charlie studied him intensely. Oliver's hair was askew and his shirt was on backwards. He was attempting a smile but it came out as a grimace and he was unconsciously biting his lip. He looked even more nervous than he had the night they had first had sex.

Oliver stepped back and ushered him in.

Charlie gave Oliver a weak smile, feeling almost as nervous as Oliver looked. "I wasn't able to come over last night so I thought I'd come by tonight."

Oliver nodded and placed a hand on the small of Charlie's back, pushing him further into the living room. "I'm packing." He explained, eyes flitting around the room.

Charlie noticed two suitcases zipped up and leaning against the wall. "You look pretty much packed." He commented.

Oliver, who had disappeared into the kitchen, called out to him through the open door. "No. I think I'm packed but I always forget something. I'm forgetting something, I know I'm forgetting something."

He reappeared a second later and stopped in front of Charlie, running a hand through his hair. "Merlin what's that thing that's like a toothbrush but for your head?"

"What?" Charlie asked.

"It's got the… things." Oliver held up his fingers and waved them back and forth.

"A brush?" Charlie answered cautiously.

"Yes!" Oliver shouted, hugging Charlie vigorously. "A brush!"

He ran out of the room. When he reentered the living room, his mood was completely altered. He was suddenly looking downtrodden. "I packed it three hours ago." He explained. He sat down heavily on the couch and put his head in his hands. "What is wrong with me?"

Charlie sat down next to him and wrapped his arm around Oliver's shoulders.

"I can't do this." Oliver whispered. He stared into Charlie's eyes, looking more vulnerable than Charlie had ever seen him. "It's the Irish National Quidditch team. How are we supposed to win against them?"

Charlie placed his hands on top of Oliver's and clasped them tightly. "You can do this. You're going to beat their arses." He stated seriously.

Oliver shook his head. "They won the 1994 Quidditch World Cup."

"And they haven't won since." Charlie replied smoothly.

"Conolly and Quigley are working together better than they were before. Then Troy's still not working as well with new chasers. It would be a mistake to underestimate him. A chaser that prefers to work alone is too unpredictable. O'Hare may not have come back from his injury. Even if he is they probably won't play him. They finally replaced Lynch and the new keeper's supposed to be very slim. That build could work against him if there are poor weather conditions, but the weather's supposed to be good…"

"Oliver, you're rambling." Charlie admonished. "Look you're going to wipe the floor with Ireland. They haven't been able to come back since they replaced Moran and Mullet. Their chasers were always their strong point and they haven't been able to live up to their name for a while." His hands tightened around Oliver's. "You're brilliant Oliver. You're going to be amazing and I'll be right in the stands watching you the whole thing."

Oliver smiled slightly and let out a weak chuckle. "That has to be the sexiest thing you've ever said." He stated. He shook his head and looked down, and the smile disappeared from his face. "I didn't want you to see me like this."

"Like what?" Charlie asked.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Neurotic, crazy." He explained, waving his hand impatiently. "It happens two days before every game, but I've never felt this horrible before." He clasped his shaking hands together and placed them in his lap.

Charlie bit his lip. Now was definitely not the time to tell Oliver. He'd just be adding more stress to an already overstressed person. He placed his hands over Oliver's quivering ones and held them tightly until they stopped shaking. He looked down at their hands, trying to think of something to say, then sat up suddenly. "I got a letter from the Reserve just before I was about to come over here."

Oliver looked very confused but Charlie kept talking. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the wrinkled envelope. "I'm surprised Sorina replied at all. They kind of find me a bit overenthusiastic up there."

Oliver smiled weakly.

"But…" He continued. "She had to tell me about Adelina."

"Who's that?" Oliver asked.

"My Chinese Fireball. Well, when I say mine I mean I named her. She's older, much older than most of the dragons who lay are. No one was expecting her to lay any eggs at all. Even after we found out she was carrying most of the handlers still thought she wouldn't lay them. It's common for older dragons."

"Like a dragon miscarriage?" Oliver interjected.

"I guess you could say that." Charlie answered. "But I knew the second I found out she was pregnant that she would lay her eggs. Adelina's so strong. She's a natural mother, I could see it in her." He pulled out the photograph and showed it to Oliver.

Oliver smiled at the image. A man and a woman he didn't recognize stood in front of a large pen with an enormous red dragon towering over them. In between her clawed feet, guarded carefully by claws and wings, were three tiny dragon eggs. "Wow." He whispered.

"Small litter." Charlie commented, sniffing. He glanced once more at the photo and stowed it in his pocket. He cleared his throat and continued. "With Adelina getting pregnant was the hard part, but she already had everything she needed to lay her eggs. Once you get over the hump it always comes down to natural ability." He took Oliver's hands in his own and stared deeply into his brown eyes. "You've already done the hard part Oliver." He whispered. "You and your team proved to the world that Puddlemore can make it to the top, now all you have to do is what comes naturally."

Oliver grasped Charlie's hands tightly and warily voiced his deepest concern. "What if we're just not good enough?" He asked.

Charlie leaned forward and kissed Oliver gently. When he pulled back he smiled warmly. "I don't bet on the wrong horse Oliver. You will win because you are the best, and you want it more than anything in the world."

Oliver threw his arms around Charlie and laid his head on his shoulder. "You might have just done the impossible." He whispered in his ear. "You brought me back from the edge."

Charlie smiled and affectionately nuzzled Oliver's cheek. "Your hands have stopped shaking." He whispered. They sat like that long after Oliver's fluctuating heartbeat and Charlie's gentle beating became one steady rhythm.

* * *

"Well maybe eets for ze best."

Charlie stared at the gorgeous blonde woman sitting at the edge of his bed. Oliver had had to leave for the stands at midnight to make it to his portkey. Charlie returned to the Burrow only to run straight into Fleur, who was enjoying finally being out of the wheelchair and making a midnight snack. Upon seeing his worried face, she'd immediately dragged him into his room and forced him to explain everything.

"E eez very stressed right now Charlie. I know you would like to tell 'im, but maybe you should wait."

Charlie chewed his lip thoughtfully. "It just feels wrong to keep this to myself. I don't want to hide things from him."

Fleur smiled and lightly pinched his cheek. "You are very cute meester Weasley. Eet eez good to want to be so honest. I am not saying you need to keep this from 'im forever, just postpone eet until the timing eez better."

Charlie leaned forward, allowing his head to rest on his hands. He stared into her dark blue eyes with interest. "Don't you think that's being deceitful?"

"In most cases yes." Fleur answered truthfully. "But this eez different. Oliver eez going to do something 'e has never done before Charlie. 'E's already very stressed. Eet eez best not to put more in 'is bowl."

Charlie chuckled. "You mean on his plate?" He asked.

"Wherever." Fleur answered impatiently. "You want to protect 'im right?" She asked.

Charlie nodded.

"Well then 'andle this yourself. Make sure that no one else finds out, and you know the three of us will not say anything." She stood then and placed a small hand on his meaty shoulder. "And Charlie?" She asked.

Charlie nodded, prompting her to continue.

"Stop kissing 'im in public." She finished and slapped him lightly on the cheek.

Charlie blushed. "Alright." He said. "I'll try."

"To be young and in love." Fleur joked.

Charlie wrapped a friendly arm around her and walked her to the door. "You're always right Fleur." He commented.

"I know." Fleur responded.

They reached his door and he opened it for her. She hugged him quickly and kissed him on both cheeks.

"Do you need me to walk you back to the room?" He asked, gesturing to her unsteady gait.

Fleur smiled. "No, you are very sweet, but I must do some things on my own."

Despite her assurances, Charlie continued to watch her until she'd successfully made it down the hall. Bill would kill him if she fell and he wasn't there to help.

"Bloody hell."

Charlie jumped several feet in the air and turned around to stare at his youngest brother. Ron was staring openmouthed at the spot Fleur had just been standing. "What's up Ron?" He asked.

"You are a God!" He exclaimed excitedly.

Charlie raised a quizzical eyebrow. "And why is that?" He asked.

Ron sighed dreamily. "I love Hermione mate but if I got Fleur in my room after dark…"

"She would kick your arse and then call Bill in to finish you off." Charlie finished.

"Come on, you'd have to be dead from the waist down to not be into that." Ron commented.

Charlie rolled his eyes, exasperated. "She's basically your sister Ron, do you think of Ginny that way too?"

Ron's jaw dropped again. "Like Ginny? She is nothing like Ginny!"

Charlie sighed and placed a calming hand on his brother's shoulder. "Looking is fine and frankly Fleur is so far out of your league you won't have to worry about being unfaithful. However, if I were you I'd avoid making comments about Fleur when you never know if Bill might overhear you."

Ron shook his head distractedly, clearly not listening to him. "Mate if only I had your restraint…"

Charlie closed the door in Ron's face, as he continued to babble about how hot Fleur was. He rolled his eyes when he heard Ron mutter something about "keeping fit after having two kids" and smiled to himself. He was definitely starting to see the perks of being gay. If he wasn't, he probably would have never been able to befriend Fleur. While Charlie still desperately wanted to tell his family about his relationship, having Fleur around to talk to definitely made things easier.

Charlie threw himself onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. Perhaps Fleur was right. Maybe it would be better for everyone if he held off telling Oliver for a few weeks. Oliver was barely handling the stress as it was. For now Charlie would just have to live in the moment, and with that in mind he tried and failed to suppress the part of him that couldn't stop fretting over what would happen when Oliver's tournament was finally over.


End file.
